'Don't blame outsourcing for job losses in US'

It is true that US manufacturing employment has been dropping for many years, but that is not primarily due to foreigners taking these jobs, he said, adding factory jobs are vanishing all over the world.

"Want to blame something? Blame new knowledge," said Reich(former Labour Secretary), who pointed out that job losses go well beyond the factory floor.

"When the US economy gets back on track, many routine jobs won't be returning, but new jobs will take their place. A quarter of the Americans now work in jobs that were not listed in the census bureau's occupation codes in 1967. You see only the loss of old jobs. You are overlooking all the new ones."

"Rather than fret about 'losing jobs' to others," said Reich, "we ought to be fretting about the growing number of our young people who are losing their footing in the emerging economy."