My focus thus far on the net effect of trade on jobs ignores the fact that those who lose jobs for trade-related reasons are not necessarily the same people who get the new jobs created by trade. Trade, like other factors resulting in structural change, can have noticeable effects on the mix of jobs across industries, skill levels, and locations.
Those who lose jobs, whatever the cause of the dislocation, have real reason to be unhappy, because job loss often entails economic hardship - a point that I will shortly discuss in more detail. However, in our dynamic economy, jobs are created and destroyed in great numbers all the time. How important are trade-related factors in this ongoing process of job creation and destruction?