The decline of traditional US industries has formed the backdrop to Donald Trump’s central pledge to “make America great again”. It has also energised the support of a former mainstay of the Democrat vote, the white working class. Five key sectors in particular have suffered since their heydays in the previous century.

Manufacturing

Fewer than one in 10 Americans work in manufacturing, compared to one in four in 1960. While Nafta (the North American Free Trade Agreement) is often blamed for shipping American manufacturing jobs south of the border to Mexico, the number of employees in manufacturing actually increased in the US after it was enacted in 1994. But economists argue that China joining the World Trade Organisation in 2001 has had the biggest impact on American manufacturing jobs by flooding the US with cheap imports that have knocked out homemade goods.

Coal mining

Coal has had an ill-fated recent history in the US, as momentum has grown around a push for renewable energy. Employment peaked in the 1920s, when almost half a million people worked in the coal mines. But those jobs were shed over the ensuing decades as improvements in technology made mines more efficient. Nevertheless, US coal production had grown continuously up until its peak in 2008. Since then, production has dropped as the government has steadily phased out more coal energy plants in favour of renewable power such as wind and solar.

Steel

The US industry has collapsed due to competition from cheap overseas steel. Production of American steel peaked in the 1970s, and its decline was accelerated by the 2008 financial crisis. The situation has been made worse by the slowdown of the oil industry – a heavy user of steel. Automation has been a key driver of job losses, however.

Textiles

America used to make a lot of its own clothes, but the signing of trade deals and much cheaper labour costs overseas have led to the majority of clothing companies sending production offshore. In the 1960s, approximately 95% of clothing worn in the US was made domestically, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association. Now, 97% of clothing and 98% of shoes sold in the US are made overseas. The trend is set to continue, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics ranks clothing, leather, and allied manufacturing as the most rapidly declining industry in the US. The bureau forecast the industry to decline by -5.9% between 2014 and 2024.

Cars

America was the world’s leading automotive manufacturer in the early 1900s, when technology created the era of mass production. Annual sales of American cars peaked in 1978 at 12.9m but declined to 7m in 1982, as Japan usurped the US as the world’s leading car producer. Car sales were also hit in the 2000s by a sustained increase in petrol prices. This left General Motors and Chrysler poorly positioned to handle the recession in 2008 and needing an $85bn (£68bn) government bailout. Since 2010, the American automotive industry has rebounded, adding jobs consistently.

• This article was amended on 7 November 2016 to correct the byline. The author is Mazin Sidahmed, not Rupert Neate.