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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