There used to be over a 1 million people employed by the railroads, another 1 million in the steel mills, another 1 million in the mines, and another 1 million by AT&T. Those 4 industries had about 10% of the working population of the US working for them.
Today, those industries produce far more with less than 1/4 of their previous number of employees. Altogether, maybe 1% of American workers work for them now. All those ex-mine employees in Montana and Illinois and West Virginia and Arizona still can't afford a car unless they got a new job using higher skills. Same for all the types who used to work as fireman or brakeman on the railroads, or telephone operators who used to direct calls. Enormous productivity gains have made it possible for those remaining workers in those industries to enjoy a better standard of living. But it came at the cost of throwing at least 3 of every 4 co-workers to the wolves.
All this bellyaching about American job losses in manufacturing, and you'd hardly know that the American manufacturing sector is more modern and productive than ever. China lost a net 15 million manufacturing jobs in the last decade due to productivity gains. Similar story in Mexico.
Jobs aren't being exported abroad, they are being zapped out of existence by technology and efficiency - all around the world. Not just in Lewistown, PA.
tech jobs are being exported abroad. no way around it - they are. the customer service person who used to be in the US working for American Express, is now in India. Period, that job has moved abroad and is now held by a foreign worker.