NAFTA + Ohio = Good Economy

Though you wouldn't know it if you listened to the politicians stumping in Ohio for the primaries, Ohio has benefited enormously from free trade, especially from the NAFTA agreement. If we stopped all international trade, it would not bring back those manufacturing jobs (jobs which were created by trade in the first place). Consider the unemployment rate in Ohio and Cleveland since January 1993 (Month 0), the start of NAFTA (other Ohio cities do not go back that far):
Since the start of NAFTA, Ohio and Cleveland have never experienced more unemployment than the month it began, which was not a historically high level anyway. Even during the recession, unemployment only got as high as 6.5 percent, which is still low by historical standards. Unemployment rate is by no means the only important statistic on labor force activity, but it is reflective and probably a surprise to those who listen to wanna-be presidents.