As trade deficit soared past $1 trillion, the U.S. lost more than five million manufacturing jobs: Manufactured goods trade deficit (billions$) and manufacturing employment (millions), 1998–2021

Manufacturing trade deficit (billions of nominal dollars, left axis) Manufacturing employment (million, right axis)
1998 Q1 135   17.6  
1998 Q2 178 17.6
1998 Q3 231 17.5
1998 Q4 202 17.5
1999 Q1 206 17.4
1999 Q2 242 17.3
1999 Q3 307 17.3
1999 Q4 281 17.3
2000 Q1 281 17.3
2000 Q2 305 17.3
2000 Q3 355 17.3
2000 Q4 328 17.2
2001 Q1 284 17.0
2001 Q2 275 16.7
2001 Q3 337 16.2
2001 Q4 320 15.8
2002 Q1 292 15.5
2002 Q2 342 15.3
2002 Q3 408 15.2
2002 Q4 409 15.0
2003 Q1 359 14.8
2003 Q2 385 14.6
2003 Q3 433 14.4
2003 Q4 435 14.3
2004 Q1 403 14.3
2004 Q2 474 14.3
2004 Q3 530 14.3
2004 Q4 543 14.3
2005 Q1 481 14.3
2005 Q2 514 14.2
2005 Q3 581 14.2
2005 Q4 590 14.2
2006 Q1 512 14.2
2006 Q2 544 14.2
2006 Q3 610 14.2
2006 Q4 568 14.0
2007 Q1 502 14.0
2007 Q2 521 13.9
2007 Q3 566 13.8
2007 Q4 540 13.8
2008 Q1 432 13.7
2008 Q2 450 13.6
2008 Q3 502 13.4
2008 Q4 440 13.0
2009 Q1 280 12.4
2009 Q2 270 11.9
2009 Q3 356 11.6
2009 Q4 371 11.5
2010 Q1 303 11.5
2010 Q2 401 11.5
2010 Q3 492 11.6
2010 Q4 455 11.6
2011 Q1 393 11.7
2011 Q2 440 11.7
2011 Q3 477 11.8
2011 Q4 452 11.8
2012 Q1 411 11.9
2012 Q2 456 11.9
2012 Q3 516 12.0
2012 Q4 488 12.0
2013 Q1 401 12.0
2013 Q2 444 12.0
2013 Q3 511 12.0
2013 Q4 480 12.1
2014 Q1 417 12.1
2014 Q2 531 12.2
2014 Q3 575 12.2
2014 Q4 584 12.3
2015 Q1 555 12.3
2015 Q2 621 12.3
2015 Q3 685 12.3
2015 Q4 658 12.4
2016 Q1 574 12.4
2016 Q2 634 12.3
2016 Q3 698 12.4
2016 Q4 683 12.3
2017 Q1 601 12.4
2017 Q2 677 12.4
2017 Q3 735 12.4
2017 Q4 769 12.5
2018 Q1 694 12.6
2018 Q2 717 12.7
2018 Q3 841 12.7
2018 Q4 857 12.8
2019 Q1 704 12.8
2019 Q2 802 12.8
2019 Q3 871 12.8
2019 Q4 781 12.8
2020 Q1 667 12.8
2020 Q2 857 11.7
2020 Q3 1,019 12.1
2020 Q4 1,058 12.2
2021 Q1 943 12.3
2021 Q2 1,036  12.3 

Note: Data are quarterly and run from 1998Q1 to 2021Q2. Construction, manufacturing, and services sectors are responsible for the vast majority (99.2% in 2019) of total nonfarm employment (see Appendix Table 1).

Source: Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analysis of employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS-CES various years) and data on the trade deficit in manufactured goods (in billions of nominal dollars) from the United States International Trade Commission (USITC 2021)

View the underlying data on epi.org.