Here, we quantify the
extent of unemployment that can be traced back to trade. Plant closures due to import
competition or overseas plant relocations are highly publicized, but they account for a very
small proportion of involuntary worker displacements. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reports that from 1996 to 2008, those closures accounted for only 2.5 percent of total involuntary
displacements. Many of the same factors that we mentioned as also affecting income
distribution, such as technological change, shifts in consumer tastes, etc., play a larger role.
Figure 4-12 shows that, over the last 50 years in the United States, there is no obvious
correlation between the unemployment rate and imports (relative to U.S. GDP