Job Market Grows…in Low-Wage Industries
Friday, September 03, 2010

The good news is that over the past seven months the private sector has added 630,000 jobs, demonstrating that there are some employment opportunities available to out-of-work Americans. The bad news is that that represents only 7.4% of the jobs lost in the last two years and many of these new positions are the lowest-paying.
Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Employment Law Project concluded that 76% of job growth has occurred in industries that pay $15 an hour or less and barely 6% has been in industries with median wages of more than $17.42 an hour.
Many of those who found work this year accepted positions in retail sales, as cashiers or in food preparation—industries with median wages below $10 an hour.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
Where the Jobs Are: A First Look at Private Industry Job Growth and Wages in 2010 (National Employment Law Project) (pdf)
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