Manufacturing Decline, Housing Booms, and Non-Employment

Abstract

We exploit cross-city variation in manufacturing decline and housing market changes during the 2000s, and jointly estimate their effects on non-employment. Both forces strongly affected non- employment between 2000 and 2007, with the increase from manufacturing decline almost exactly offset by reductions attributable to housing. We show that this offsetting occurred both in the aggregate and at the individual level. Moreover, we show that the housing bust undid the effects of the preceding housing boom, such that over the entire 2000s housing explains little of the aggregate non-employment increase, while manufacturing explains roughly 40 percent.

JEL Classification: J21, E24, E32, R23