The recent recession hit the manufacturing sector particularly hard. 2.8 million factory-jobs have been lost since the summer of 2000, shrinking total manufacturing employment by 16%, to 14.6 million. U.S. manufacturers face low-priced competitors in China, soaring health-care costs, and flat sales of once-hot products. But as many of them moved jobs overseas and trimmed their domestic work force, others started to aggressively automate their operation, causing a massive boost in productivity, which, they hope, will allow for higher margins and make it hard for foreign competition to follow.

The authors point out that American factories are producing more than they ever have, thanks to dramatic productivity gains. An Intel plant in New Mexico, for instance, can produce 22 times as many chips today as just five years ago, using the same number of workers. Even the U.S steel production has risen over the past two decades although over 100,000 workers have been laid off.

On the other hand, the recession has caused a lot of pain for communities that depended on blue-collar jobs. In many cases, retirees have lost their pensions and health benefits, as their employer folds and new players pick up their assets - but not their employees' benefits.

The article concludes by comparing this shift in the manufacturing sector with the decline in farming jobs. Today, agriculture accounts for only 2% of employment, down from 38% in 1900, yet the U.S. farms still export food.