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A study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research has found that the share of African-Americans in manufacturing jobs fell from 23.9 percent in 1979 to 9.8 percent last year.

The report, "The Decline in African-American Representation in Unions and Manufacturing, 1979-2007," by economist John Schmitt and senior research associate Ben Zipperer, details the simultaneous sharp decline in both black employment in manufacturing and the unionization rates of black workers.

The study incorporated data from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey and also found that manufacturing workers of any race are now no more likely to be union members than workers in any other sector of the economy.

According to Schmitt and Zipperer, unionization rates among African Americans dropped from 31.7 to 15.7 percent between 1983 and 2007. Unionization rates also dropped among whites and Hispanics during that period, but not as dramatically as those for African Americans.