I thought I knew all about the manufacturing crisis, but I was was still kind of stunned when I did a quick stat check to respond to a comment on my earlier post on globalization and unions.
In 2000, manufacturing output (in constant 2002 dollar terms) amounted to $188.9 Billion.
In 2010, manufacturing output amounted to $158.3 Billion – 16% less than in 2000 in constant dollar terms.
Manufacturing output fell from 18.4% to 12.8% of GDP over that period.
(2011 annual average figures not yet in – there may have been a very small uptick.)
Manufacturing employment fell by by 505,000 or by 22.5% (from 2,249,000 to 1,744,000) between 2000 and 2010. (Labour Force Survey.)
As a share of employment, manufacturing fell from 15.6% to 10.4% (and slipped very slightly again to 10.35% in 2011.
The decline in manufacturing employment has been greater than the decline in production, indicating that stronger than average labour productivity growth has been a factor behind job losses.
But the fact of Canadian deindustrialization is glaringly apparent.
