CAMPAIGN/ECONOMY/JOBS: “President Donald Trump championed himself as a savior of the American worker during his campaign.
But he largely has been silent on the biggest crisis facing these workers: the collapse of the retail industry.
According to government data, general-merchandise stores like Macy’s and Sears have bled about 89,000 jobs since October — more than the total number of people employed by the US coal industry, which Trump repeatedly pledged to revive both on the campaign trail and in office.
Since 2001, department stores alone have lost half a million jobs. The coal industry, by comparison, has lost about 22,000 jobs in the same period.
The job exodus in the retail industry, which employs about one out of every 10 American workers, is only expected to continue.”
-Hayley Peterson, “An American jobs threat worse than coal is coming to your hometown,” Business Insider, May 1, 2017 8:50am