Great Graphic: North American Autos and the Rise of Mexico

This Great Graphic shows where auto sector jobs are in North America.  It was posted on the Washington Post's Wonkblog.    It is based a new report form Brookings Institution.  

It shows the decline of auto employment in the midwest of the US, the migration to the south, with the lower wages and the lighter union representation.  It also shows the continued migration further south to Mexico.  

Since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement a new division of labor in the auto sector developed. By 2012, about 40% of the jobs in the auto sector are in Mexico and the trend does not appear to be exhausted.   A number of Asian and European car manufacturers are building or expanding capacity in Mexico.  Since 2000, primarily due to technological development, employment in the auto sector in North America has fallen by 25% to 1.5 mln.  Yet, Mexico has added 25k auto workers.  

This underscores the difference between the traditional export oriented expansion strategies of Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and China and the direct investment strategy of the US and, increasingly Japan.  For the US and Japanese companies, local sales of affiliates outstrips exports. Building and selling locally leads to development in a way that exports simply do not.  The direct investment strategy generates jobs, and in Mexico's case, helps build a middle class.  It transfers technology as well

(see this recent post on this year's increased US market share for GM, Ford and Chrysler)