U.S. Job Losses Have Mushroomed Since 2001 – What Is Happening?

According to a report by the Alliance for American Manufacturing,  2.7 million American jobs -- most of them in manufacturing -- have been lost since 2001.If you're wondering why 2001 was a key year, the report indicates a direct correlation with the U.S. trade deficit with China since it joined the World Trade Organization. Since 1995, the World Trade Organization has been the supreme overseer of trade, economic interaction, and commerce between the nations of the planet.   While some praise its efforts to build economic relations between countries and establish better ties between economies, opponents blast its one-world-economy structure, and claim it favors multi-national companies at the expense of workers and smaller businesses within nations.

WTO protests have been staged at various meetings of the group around the world, including recent protests in Seattle.

The Alliance for Manufacturing claims China's violations of WTO agreements, currency manipulation, cheap labor and purchasing U.S. debt have cost many American manufacturing jobs. The report claims 2.1 of the 2.7 million lost jobs are in manufacturing -- 55 percent in computer and electronics industries. The report claims that predatory trade and economic tactics, as well as illegal government subsidies, are making it harder for U.S. companies (and those in other nations) to compete globally.

That's why numerous critics and economists are concerned with the trade deficit and other issues from continued use of the World Trade Organzation.