I beg to differ. The international corporate rush to free and easy profits ... through exploiting the trapped slave labor of communist and "third-world" states ... has moved the middle class out of America. In their pursuit of the easiest road to profit, corporations have killed the goose that laid the golden eggs. They have sacrificed our nation to the moneygod, and we will pay for it sooner, rather than later.
They rationalize this action with the claim that our economy is switching (or has switched) to an "information and service economy", with nothing to gain from dirty, bulky, manufacturing industry. This could be true, if only we were simultaneously educating our populace to give them the tools to participate in the "information economy". It is woefully difficult to participate in an "information economy", when you have no information. Regarding the "service" component of our economy, our nation is evolving into a new economic situation: a society divided between those with very significant holdings, and the rest of the folks, a vast majority (who will not remain silent for long) ... the vast majority will spend their lives flipping hamburgers for minimum wage so that the wealthy 1% may eat any time and any place they wish.
The American middleclass is no longer sacred and never really was -- aside from its ability to buy lotsa stuff. But there are many other established and emerging economies that are willing to buy lotsa stuff.
In any event, private industry has very little responsibility to provide "good paying" jobs to support a middleclass. A company's only responsibility is to its shareholders.