Even as economists worry about the loss of manufacturing jobs nationwide, a study by the Brookings Institution (Washington) has found that the "Rust Belt" is being hurt worst of all.
Between 1995 and 2005, the United States lost more than 3 million manufacturing jobs. Nearly all of this job loss occurred during the last five years, and 37.5 percent of the loss occurred in the seven Great Lakes states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.