beginning in the 1980s when it was commonly contrasted with the Sun Belt, which was surging. The term Rust Belt refers to the impact of deindustrialization, economic decline, population loss, and urban decay on these regions attributable to the shrinking of the once-powerful industrial sector especially including steelmaking, automobile manufacturing, and coal mining. In some cases, it is a trend that persists in the 21st century. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions and cities primarily in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the U.S., including Allentown, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Jersey City, Milwaukee, Newark, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Toledo, Trenton, Youngstown, and other areas of New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Upstate New York.īeginning in the late 20th century, the Rust Belt began experiencing the elimination or outsourcing of manufacturing jobs. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The company filed bankruptcy in 2001 and was dissolved in 2003.

In 1982, however, Bethlehem Steel suspended most of its manufacturing.

The rusting steel stacks of Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, one of the world's largest manufacturers of steel for most of the 20th century. For type of conveyor belt, see Steel belt.

Rust belt east moline