Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Liberal Research Group Finds Big Hit to Middle Class in Jobs Added

There are difficulties in a $767 billion stimulus/"trickle up" economic plan. From the New York Times:
"The report by the National Employment Law Project, a liberal research and advocacy group, found that while 60 percent of the jobs lost during the downturn were in midwage occupations, 73 percent of the jobs added since the recession ended had been in lower-wage occupations, like cashier, stocking clerk or food preparation worker.

"According to the report, 'The Good Jobs Deficit,' the number of jobs in midwage and high-wage occupations remains significantly below the prerecession peak, while the number of jobs in lower-wage occupations has climbed back close to its former peak."

The report warns:
"Finally, we should emphasize that it is too early in the recovery to predict whether these trends will continue. But these findings do show a stark, disproportionate loss in mid-wage occupations during the Great Recession – putting a heavy burden on the recovery to replenish the stock of mid-wage jobs. And yet to date, it has been lower-wage occupations that have seen the strongest growth, suggesting that workers currently navigating the U.S. labor market are facing a good jobs deficit." (page 4)
One interesting fact is that registered nurses have seen a big drop in jobs by losing over 120,000 positions in the higher-wage job category. (see page 3 of the report) This is a warning indicator that healthcare has not seen and may not see a bump in service either from the stimulus or Obamacare.

H/T Jim Pethokoukis

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