Coal Mining - Production Up, Employment Down

Sourcewatch has put up a good chart showing how productivity increases in mining have cut employment in that industry. In 1930, the U.S. produced 527 million short tons, and about 1% of the national workforce at the time, or 644,000 Americans, worked in coal mines. By 2000, the country was producing 1,073 million short tons, and just 71,000 Americans worked in mines, so worker productivity increased about 15-fold.