The two Democratic presidential candidates are, of course, sparring again:
"Sen. Clinton has been going to great lengths on the campaign trail to distance herself from NAFTA," Obama said Sunday in Lorain, Ohio. "In her own book, Sen. Clinton called NAFTA one of 'Bill's successes' and 'legislative victories.'"
"One million jobs have been lost because of NAFTA, including nearly 50,000 jobs here in Ohio. And yet, 10 years after NAFTA passed, Sen. Clinton said it was good for America. Well, I don't think NAFTA has been good for America -- and I never have," he said.
Now I don't doubt that Hillary Clinton supported NAFTA as First Lady, but the statistics are a little suspect. Now surely some people lost their jobs since January 1, 1994, when NAFTA went into effect, but total employment actually rose from 91.6 million jobs in Jan. 1994 to 113.0 million jobs in Jan. 2007, according to the Department of Labor. In fact, ignoring seasonal fluctuations, employment rose almost consistently from 1994 through 2000, with 2001 being the first year since NAFTA to experience net job loss:
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