China's Manufacturing Jobs Surged As American Jobs Disappeared

[FreakinDJ]

China's Manufacturing Jobs Surged As American Jobs Disappeared

By Richard A. McCormack

While the United States was losing 1.4 million manufacturing jobs from 2002 to 2006, China was substantially increasing the number of workers in its manufacturing sector, according to a new report on Chinese manufacturing employment and compensation costs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Manufacturing employment in China during those five years increased by 10 percent to 112 million, about 100 million more than the number of manufacturing workers in the United States.

Manufacturing employment in China bottomed out in 2002 at 100.7 million, down from a high of 126 million in 1996. "In the late 1990s, privatization of China's manufacturing establishments and intense global competition brought increases in labor productivity accompanied by a drop in manufacturing employment," says the new BLS study. But things started to turn around in 2002, with foreign demand for Chinese-manufactured goods growing by 25 percent per year. "By the end of 2006, China's manufacturing employment had increased once again to 112.63 million, nearly eight times the level of manufacturing employment in the United States (14.16 million)."

Average compensation for Chinese manufacturing workers increased by more than 40 percent from 2002 to 2006 to $0.81 per hour, or $162 per month (and $1,939 per year). Total compensation cost for a manufacturing worker in China is only 2.7 percent of the average hourly compensation cost of a manufacturing employee in the United States. "Because hourly compensation costs in China have grown at an annual rate three times that of the United States during the five years covered in this series (9 percent and 3 percent, respectively), this percentage has edged higher, starting from 2.1 percent of U.S. compensation costs in 2002 and increasing slightly each year," notes the study.

But Chinese manufacturing employees located in rural areas make far less than the average. Total compensation for a rural manufacturing employee is only 53 cents per hour. In urban areas, the average is $1.47 per hour. Total compensation costs include wages, employer payments for social benefits such as workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, health insurance and pension funds. It includes sick leave, income guarantee insurance, life and accident insurance, illness compensation and family allowances.

http://www.manufacturingnews.com/news/09/0529/chinesewages.html

Does anyone still wonder why the USA is experiencing "Double Didget UnEmployment"

The "Free Trade / Globalization" BullCrap has been brought to you by the same people that Destroyed the American Economy with Credit Default Swaps and other "Financial Products" (WTF is a Financial Product anyway)

And as far as the investor - the one all these jobs were sacraficed for - well they got screwed too

[Deja Q]

1. Investors are the only ones corporations have any "responsibility" too.

Ironic; the investor is being poisoned along with everyone else.

[FreakinDJ]

5. Shows you how well the "Free Trade / Globalization" Bullcrap is working

Isn't ironic : The investor, the one these multinational corps claim to be protecting has likewise been screwed watching his hard fought life savings going down the 401K/Stock Market Toilet

But hey - at least the CEOs and Corporate Execs got a hefty bonus for outsourcing all those american jobs

[hobbit709]

2. This is news?

Anybody with a halfway functioning brain could have seen this coming.

[Deja Q]

3. They were too busy watching "Desperate Housewives" or "Torchwood".

:shrug:

[hobbit709]

4. Operative words"halfway functioning brain"

They've proven that watching TV burns less calories than sleeping. Evidently with the babble machine on the brain goes into shutdown mode.

[xchrom]

6. it's the height of tyranny that any government thinks any job

held by it;s citizens is expendable.

'new technology' or the much vaunted 'service sector' can't employ enough people.

we need all of our jobs.

and we need people to be able to create employment -- from making shirts to creating software.

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. +1

:thumbsup:

[FreakinDJ]

8. Watch out - More Free Trade crap is coming

With the current financial and recessionary crisis, many “traditionalist” thinkers will likely pull out the old premises, arguing to conclude the Doha Round and pass legislation enacting recently signed free trade agreements as a means of alleviating the crisis. Once again, multinational companies and financial institutions and their think tanks will lead the charge since they would be the primary beneficiaries. Before we blindly accept trade agreements that will simply result in lost jobs, the next administration needs to also comprehensively address the disparities in international monetary and competition policies that prevent our trade agreement from delivering the results that Main Street was promised and deserves.
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5274

[xchrom]

9. i certainly don't think we've elected many politicians

who are on the side of main street.

bernie sanders comes to mind -- or kucinich -- maybe barbara lee and maxine waters -- but the ranks are thin.

[bertman]

12. while I agree with the gist of your reply, xchrom, it's highly debatable that we couldn't

do without the work of some of the financial and investment banking wizards who currently dominate our economy.

There are always jobs that are being made obsolete by advances in technology or efficiency. I'd hate to see our government subsidizing typewriter repairmen just because they have a J-o-b, for example.

[xchrom]

26. no -- and that's not really what i'm talking about.

but take for example -- textiles -- this country used to have a rich tradition of making textiles.

today? -- that's a decimated business because of the search for cheaper labour.

and then begins the vicious cycle.

[bertman]

30. I agree.

[ThomWV]

10. Don't panic: Our Gross National Product is over 8x China's

and our GNP, per capita, is roughly 50% higher than theirs.

http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/gnp.html

[FreakinDJ]

11. Sure as long as you count the manufacture of "Bad Loans"

Didn't the Bush Administration classify the workers in McDonalds as "Manufacturing Jobs" because they were "Manufacturing those Hamburgers"

[FarCenter]

13. The idea that there was US demand for Chinese goods is false

What actually happened is that US companies went to China, set up the factories, supplied the technologies, designed the products, and imported and sold the goods.

Without the "pump-priming" by US companies, China would be no where near where they are today.

Note that other leading developed countries like Japan and Germany have been very cautious about transferring factories and know-how to the Chinese.

The Chinese trade deficit is a problem that the US inflicted upon itself through bad political decisions and bad economic policy.

[Hannah Bell]

14. yes, us, japanese & european capital - including auto corps capital.

the approved storyline = fairy tale.

[FreakinDJ]

15. It was "Bad Policy" from it's inception

It opened this enormous gigantic loop-hole for Greedy Corps (WalMart and Company) could exploit much to the demise of the American worker.

Call it Anti-American Worker, Anti-Union or just plain Un-American. The effects are home to roost as America's economy is failing, and $Trillions are tossed down the Hyperbol known as the Wall St Financial Institutions, all on the backs of the American Working Class/Tax Payers.

[mike3121]

16. American workers (and union workers) squeezed by both sides.

If most US businessmen had there way they would ship "all US jobs overseas." The right wing Republican business types, while waving the flag, would and are transferring all means of production overseas. I know some jobs are destined to be done in foreign lands where labor is cheep, such as clothing. I's "the bottom line" thing to them. Look at the illegal immigration problem. Do you think it's only liberals, college professors, students, and the ACLU that support open immigration. Hell no, big business is right at there side cheering them on.

Liberals also support a global economy. They want to raise up the third world at the expense of the evil, imperialistic warmongering US. Let us suffer severe unemployment, we deserve it. Heck Clinton and his followers were as eager to support open trade laws as anyone. The US State Department that is supposed to monitor illegal trade such as dumping have all "gone native," and support their host country.

You see the American worker is cough in between. Henry Ford had a statement about (I can't find it) that we are ruined if the worker can't afford what he produces.

[FreakinDJ]

18. Where is Obama and his promise "To reopen these Trade Agreements"

Given he has now surrounded himself with the same Wall St Bankers that promoted Globalisation/Free Trade, have caused the Financial's crisis and the economic down turn - I'm not holding my breath

If you want to economy to improve - you have got to fix the trade imbalance and restore the American Manufacting base.

[Wednesdays]

17. K&R

:kick:

[moondust]

19. "National Security" does not include the Economy.

Many Americans are happy to help destroy the U.S. economy for personal gain while the government stands by and watches or in some cases serves as a facilitator. After all, Wall Street made them do it.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

20. Indeed. When will these dumb chinks stop this nonsense and go back to being peasants?

[FreakinDJ]

21. A FreepTard could not have said it better

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

22. Generally the freepers hate blacks, Hispanics, and Arabs

Hatred of Asians and Indians is fast becoming a pastime amongst a small group of DUers.

[FreakinDJ]

25. Funny - I could have sworn MY WIFE IS ASIAN

Your making FreeTards look intelligent now.

So lets quit beating around the bush - Just exactly what DO YOU HAVE AGAINST THE AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS

[Elwood P Dowd]

32. AND there is a small group of DUers who support foreign workers at the expense of

middle class and poor Americans. They have orgasms over the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs and had their lives destroyed because of free trade and outsourcing policies that only benefit filthy rich CEOs and investors. The World's greatest economy has been trashed, and free trading or outsourcing jobs to places like China and India contributed a great deal to that trashing.

[JANdad]

29. What he said...

....BTW...@ $.53/hr I think the term peasant already applies...

[FreakinDJ]

31. Making FrepTards every where proud - arn't you

I know - your just thinking like a Globalist

[Joe the Liberal]

23. Sometimes it just feels hopeless....

I know we've been through worse but still.

[AdHocSolver]

24. A "Financial Product" is a complex POS wrapped in a pretty package and sold to a fool...

who is soon parted from his money (or, in some cases, sold to a fool who is soon parted from the money of other people who trusted his investment advice).

Moreover, these Ponzi schemes are designed to screw the investor out of his money. The basic model for the stock market and all of the investment schemes like credit default swaps is Enron. To learn how these investment schemes work merely read up on the Enron scam.

If you find that too depressing, then get a copy of Mel Brooks comedy "The Producers", and learn and laugh at the same time.

By the way, a basic economic rule says that for an economy to be viable, eighty percent or more of the goods purchased in that economy must be manufactured within that economy. Manufacturing goods produces wealth, NOT consumption.

Kevin Phillips in his book "Wealth and Democracy", among others, explains how all the great empires of the past collapsed for the same reasons, namely they broke their own economies by importing everything from cheap labor regions which were essentially colonies, which were acquired and retained by supporting huge armies and fighting endless wars, while at the same time, the ruling elites maintained an extravagent lifestyle. This scenario describes the Roman, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, British empires, as well as others, and may soon be applicable to the American "empire".

[Orsino]

27. American jobs didn't "disappear"...

...so much as they were auctioned off.

[backtoblue]

28. Auctioning off paid slavery it seems.

nt