September 22, 2011 12:34 AM PDT
This was in the Hartford business journal this week...
Study: China saps CT of 31K jobs
09/20/11
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Connecticut lost 31,600 jobs since 2001 due to the U.S. trade deficit with China, according to a study Tuesday from a Washington, D.C. think tank.
The report by the Economic Policy Institute says that since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, the U.S. has lost more than 2.8 million jobs as a result of America's imports from China exceeding exports to China.
The majority of the jobs lost have come from the manufacturing sector, and the hardest hit subsector was in the computer and electronic parts industries, losing 909,000.
Aerospace products and parts -- one of Connecticut's largest manufacturing subsectors - actually added jobs as a result of trade with China, gaining 5,800 throughout the United States.
According to EPI, California lost the most jobs of any state, at 454,000, equivalent to 2.74 percent of its workforce. New Hampshire lost the highest percentage of jobs at 2.84 percent, or 19,700 total jobs.
Connecticut ranked No. 23 in percentage of jobs lost, at 1.81 percent of the workforce
September 22, 2011 1:26 AM PDT
Hi all, I wish that I could break the Wal-Mart habit. I live in rural NY and have to travel about 20 + miles in either direction to go to the store. Both towns that are the closest to me have Wal-Mart as their main option for shopping. Binghamton, NY now has two Wal-Mart stores. I too get discouraged seeing all the products that are not made here. It has become a chore finding anything made here in America. Where are we going to be in 10 or 20 years from now.??...kind of scary.
September 22, 2011 6:14 AM PDT
I try as hard as I can not to step into a Wal-Mart and have been pretty successful. In the last year or so when I do need something I look for America made products. Thanks fiddlemike for the list. I managed to find some if not everything I’ve needed made in America. It does take some looking but with the internet it’s worked out great. Over the past year I replaced my leather riding jacket (I have more money in fixing the old it then what it cost) with one made not only in America but in the same state as where I live. Not only is it sized no small medium and large shit but sizes like 42, 44 and the quality is a vast improvement over my old one. The price was different from my first or (third) jacket but it was well worth the price and it has now gotten colder here and I still haven’t put the full sleeve liner in yet.
Since the topic of boots came up I just ran into this myself and have some input on this. I found two work boot manufactures that have boots made in America. Red Wing and Chippewa both have boots made in the US. I presently have a pairof Chippewa 8in high work boots where the soles are made here in Mass. the leather is from Maine and assembled in (Texas I think). The rep for Chippewa in Mass is one town over from where I live. Plus they were at a reasonable prize. I’ve worn this boots for the last two months and not a complaint so far only praise for these boots. Note: they do have boot made outside the Americas so you have to look at each model for ones made in the US.
Lastly just this week as it is turning colder here (northeast and Mass.) I looked for my old jacket. This jacket was made by a major outdoor supplier with a great reputation for quality. Well, as with all of use I’ve put on a little too much weight from the time I originally purchased the jacket to now. So I hit the web and then one of their local retail stores to possibly replace it. I was totally disappointed not only was the jacket made in China but even going up a size it still didn’t fit me (a ongoing problem with outsourced clothes). The high point was after a 10 minute search on the internet I found a similar jacket made in the US and here’s the kicker. It was cheaper than the one made in China.
So the products are out there keep looking you may be helping your neighbor keep his or her job.
September 23, 2011 3:16 PM PDT
thanks for the list !!!
September 24, 2011 3:20 AM PDT
thanks for the list.....i don't do wally world, haven't stepped foot in one in years.
September 24, 2011 3:52 AM PDT
Here's an interested story for ya......the EXACT facts may not be dead on but you will get the point. After (maybe before) WWII Howard Hughes sold a radial aircraft engine to the Japanese, (I think it went into the Jap zero) and during delivery the engine received a dent in it, which was only cosmetic, and didn’t affect the performance. The Japanese are so good at coping they made a dent in every engine produced, as they through the dent was suppose to be there!
We can’t compete with foreign countries when it comes to products where the worker makes $7.00 a day, and the US Union worker would be making $25.00 an hour making the same product. When I worked for the FED’s Lockheed Martin was having F-16 parts made in Mexico, and the workers down there couldn’t even read the Blue Prints, so Lockheed color coded everything so they could continue making cheap parts.
Not sure where it all went downhill, but it did!
September 27, 2011 5:55 PM PDT
I try to stay the hell out of wallmart but im not made of money either so wally world ends up winning if I need or something tempirary until I can get it later if I don't need it now. If not I go online to look for what I'm after and can't hardly find anything made in the USA any where any more. So Thank you fiddlemike.
October 2, 2011 6:26 PM PDT
I agree 101%. buy AMERICAN! God Bless the U S A !!!
October 3, 2011 2:21 AM PDT
Love it
It's not just wal-mart it's a buyer beware world out there
I bought a "Coleman" air compressor from auto zone - now it's a portable air tank
. Thanks for the post, John
