The Jacquard looma is a perfect example.
But it also created work. Someone
had to design the cards that drove the
loom. Someone had to build and maintain
the loom. The productivity of fabric
manufacture must have increased
with the introduction of this invention.
The same can be said for many other
inventions. The development of production
lines actually increased the
availability of jobs and while also increasing
productivity per capita.
What should be fairly obvious, on
reflection, is that new jobs created by
innovation often require new skills
and some displaced workers may not
be able to learn them. Even when there
is a net increase in jobs resulting from
innovation (think of the invention
of the integrated circuit, the World
Wide Web, YouTube), not everyone
displaced will find new work unless or
until they are able to learn new skills
or apply new knowledge.