Report: China Sheds More Manufacturing Jobs Than U.S.

ByJohn S. McClenahen China lost more than seven times the number of manufacturing jobs between 1995 and 2002 than did the U.S., according to a report released this month by the Conference Board, a New York-based business research group. China lost 15 million manufacturing jobs; the U.S. lost 2 million. "As its manufacturing productivity accelerates, China is losing jobs in manufacturing -- many more than the U.S. is -- and gaining them in services, a pattern that has been playing out in the developed world for years," says the report. Between 1995 and 2002, China shed 1.8 million jobs in textiles, 557,000 in steel processing and 588,000 in machinery, says the report, which was based on data for 51,000 large and medium-size firms in China's manufacturing, mining and utility industries.