According to a recent report by nonprofit research institute Policy Matters Ohio, Ohio lost over 13,000 manufacturing jobs in 2006, the highest dropoff in 10 years.
The report, based on data from the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance program and the U.S. Department of Labor, cites international trade as the cause.
The 13,432 workers who were laid off in 2006 reflects the result of import competition and the shift towards overseas production, the report stated. Between August 2004 and December 2006, more than 50 percent of the job losses were caused by moving production or replacing Ohio-made products with foreign imports, while shifts in production to Canada or Mexico led to 4,964 jobs lost, the research showed.
Often, manufacturing employees find it difficult to find a new job, particularly one with comparable pay, according to the report. The report also notes that 65 percent of workers in the U.S. who lost their job between 2003 and 2005 were re-employed as of January 2006 and of those reemployed, one-third had jobs with wages 20 percent below their previous job.
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