Mid-skill jobs were 60% of job losses, only 22% of job growth.

[dkf]

While a majority of jobs lost during the downturn were in the middle range of wages, a majority of those added during the recovery have been low paying, according to a new report from the National Employment Law Project.

The disappearance of midwage, midskill jobs is part of a longer-term trend that some refer to as a hollowing out of the work force, though it has probably been accelerated by government layoffs.

“The overarching message here is we don’t just have a jobs deficit; we have a ‘good jobs’ deficit,” said Annette Bernhardt, the report’s author and a policy co-director at the National Employment Law Project, a liberal research and advocacy group.

The report looked at 366 occupations tracked by the Labor Department and clumped them into three equal groups by wage, with each representing a third of American employment in 2008. The middle third — occupations in fields like construction, manufacturing and information, with median hourly wages of $13.84 to $21.13 — accounted for 60 percent of job losses from the beginning of 2008 to early 2010.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/31/business/majority-of-new-jobs-pay-low-wages-study-finds.html

[progressivebydesign]

1. Construction was blown out of the water by the housing crash.. thanks to the GOP.

But with the housing market humming along in most areas, I'm seeing MUCH increased construction again! I've personally seen man houses being built, after years of nothing. Several large housing developments that were stopped in 2008, are now being completed and sold. In Oxnard, California, there is a massive shopping area being started again.. after the developer said that they abandoned the project in 2008, because of the market... and have now leased much of it to the likes of whole foods market, etc.

So construction will come back, as the housing comes back. It won't be the boom that we had during the crazy housing times, but people are working again. There are plenty of high tech jobs right now, but they're sooo specialized and there are very few paths to them other than a specific degree. the Manufacturing jobs are the ones that will not come back.. thanks to Bain and their ilk.

[Romulox]

2. Wow. This is why the "recovery" has stalled. 70-80% of our economy depends on these workers

spending the money they earn.

[Romulox]

3. And THIS is why it is so awful when DUers promote outsourcing. The middle class is dying. nt

[dkf]

4. Exactly what do you refer to when you speak of "outsourcing"?

Are you speaking of corporations deciding to hire outside firms to handle what used to be in house? Or off-shoring?