Pennsylvania, Wisconsin lost the most factory jobs in the past year: report

Two swing states narrowly won by President Trump over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016 were the sites of the greatest losses in manufacturing jobs between 2018 and 2019, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.

The agency’s state employment survey found that Wisconsin has lost about 5,200 manufacturing jobs since August of last year. In Pennsylvania, losses of manufacturing jobs topped 7,700, according to the survey.

{mosads}Trump carried the two states in 2016 despite a concerted effort by the Clinton campaign to hold on to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin having not previously voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1984.

During his campaign, the president vowed to bring manufacturing jobs back from China and other countries, while accusing the Obama administration and other previous administrations of signing trade deals that resulted in factories moving overseas.

In the early months of his presidency, Trump worked to prove his commitment to factory workers by negotiating with companies such as Carrier, which pledged to keep about 1,000 jobs at an Indianapolis factory location after pressure from the White House.

The president also battled a local union boss on social media earlier this year, blaming him for the closure of a General Motors plant in Ohio.