One study of worker displacement indicates that only about two-thirds of displaced workers found another job within three years, and even when they were successful in finding full-time work, the earnings of these workers on average declined 8 percent.15 Another study found that job losers in industries facing heavy import competition were slightly less likely to be reemployed, and suffered greater earnings losses, than workers who lost their jobs in industries facing less import competition.16 We cannot and should not minimize the hardships of workers displaced by imports.
However, we must also keep in mind that their numbers are relatively small compared with either the total labor force or even the total number of jobs lost in the United States.