Xinhua, Washington :
The employment decline in China’s manufacturing sector primarily reflects improved labor productivity and the slowing growth of broad manufacturing relative to services, said a U.S. economist, refuting President Donald Trump’s argument that China has lost millions of jobs as a result of his tariffs.
“This claim is delusional,” Nicholas Lardy, a senior fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics based in Washington D.C., wrote in an article published Thursday, referring to the president’s recent tweet that “China has lost 5 million jobs and two million manufacturing jobs due to the Trump Tariffs.”
The figure appears to be based on a report by the Beijing-based Chinese securities firm, China International Capital Corporation Limited (CICC), Lardy said.
The report showed employment in “broad manufacturing,” which consists of mining, manufacturing, utilities and construction, has fallen by 5 million since July 2018, when the U.S. government first imposed tariffs.
However, the CICC report also said that employment in broad manufacturing shrank by almost 8 million a year between 2015 and 2017, Lardy noted. “So, the contraction of employment in broad manufacturing has not increased since the trade war began in July 2018. Instead, it appears to have slowed.” As growth in the manufacturing sector slows, services have become an increasingly important contributor to China’s growth, and total employment continued to expand throughout this period because of rapidly expanding demand for labor in services, said the veteran China watcher.
The employment decline in China’s manufacturing sector primarily reflects improved labor productivity and the slowing growth of broad manufacturing relative to services, said a U.S. economist, refuting President Donald Trump’s argument that China has lost millions of jobs as a result of his tariffs.
“This claim is delusional,” Nicholas Lardy, a senior fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics based in Washington D.C., wrote in an article published Thursday, referring to the president’s recent tweet that “China has lost 5 million jobs and two million manufacturing jobs due to the Trump Tariffs.”
The figure appears to be based on a report by the Beijing-based Chinese securities firm, China International Capital Corporation Limited (CICC), Lardy said.
The report showed employment in “broad manufacturing,” which consists of mining, manufacturing, utilities and construction, has fallen by 5 million since July 2018, when the U.S. government first imposed tariffs.
However, the CICC report also said that employment in broad manufacturing shrank by almost 8 million a year between 2015 and 2017, Lardy noted. “So, the contraction of employment in broad manufacturing has not increased since the trade war began in July 2018. Instead, it appears to have slowed.” As growth in the manufacturing sector slows, services have become an increasingly important contributor to China’s growth, and total employment continued to expand throughout this period because of rapidly expanding demand for labor in services, said the veteran China watcher.
