Final answer:
Job losses in the United States can be attributed to technological advances, offshoring, and changes due to trade agreements like NAFTA and USMCA. Structured economic changes like automation, shifts in industry, and globalization also play key roles. Job market resilience and growth trends over long periods suggest a complex interplay of factors.
Step-by-step explanation:
The most likely reasons for the decline of jobs in the United States include technological advances, offshoring, and to some extent, trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its successor, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). However, it is important to note that the effects of these trade agreements are nuanced. The enactment of NAFTA did lead to the loss of jobs in industries like textile and apparel, though it also resulted in job creation in some manufacturing sectors within the U.S. Conversely, economists argue that many job losses in the manufacturing sector were due to structural changes like automation, rather than solely because of NAFTA.
Furthermore, the USMCA, which replaced NAFTA, aimed to address some of the issues linked to job loss by including provisions for worker wages and rights. Over the long term, the U.S. job market has shown resilience and growth despite fluctuations in unemployment rates. These variations are attributed to a range of factors aside from trade agreements, including the shift from manufacturing to service industries, globalization, competition from foreign producers, and a reduced desire for unions due to workplace protection laws.