Milwaukee ? The AFL-CIO and an affiliate group called Working America started an interactive Web database Thursday to identify employers who they say ship jobs overseas.

The site relies on government data, media reports and corporate filings. The government information includes advance notices from companies intending mass layoffs and plant closings, as well as federal grant applications for workers who have lost jobs because of foreign competition.

“With this new tool, every worker in America will now know what companies in their neighborhoods and which local industries are exporting jobs,” Rich Trumka, AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer said Thursday.

The new site gives localized information on companies thought to be exporting work or losing jobs to foreign trade.

Users can type in a ZIP code and get a list of businesses within that area that show up on government databases for mass layoff notices or trade assistance certifications.

Unions have made the loss of jobs overseas a central issue in the 2004 presidential campaign.

The AFL-CIO says its job tracker has information on more than 200,000 U.S. companies and subsidiaries sending or losing jobs abroad, although the number of jobs isn’t available because it’s often not disclosed in the data sources.

The site listed 12 companies within a 100-mile radius of Lawrence that have been reported as exporting jobs. Only two companies with Lawrence addresses were reported: Davol Inc., a medical device manufacturer that closed its Lawrence production plant, and CB Holdings, which is an affiliate of Cardinal Brands, an office supply manufacturer that has its corporate headquarters in Lawrence.