Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/284086 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. WP 2024-01
Publisher: 
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Abstract: 
During the Second Industrial Revolution, in the late nineteenth century, the proliferation of automation technologies coincided with substantial job creation but also a "hollowing out" of middle-skilled job opportunities, which historically offered reliable paths to prosperity. We use recently linked U.S. census data to document three main facts: (i) declining demand for middle-skilled labor in manufacturing corresponded to greater reallocation of workers into comparatively less-skilled occupations; (ii) older workers were more likely to switch to unskilled physical labor; (iii) younger workers led switching into growing occupations affected by automation technologies.
Subjects: 
automation
occupational choice
technological displacement
JEL: 
J62
N31
N32
O33
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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