The days of upward mobility in America appear to be coming to an end. Good paying jobs were getting scarce before the Great Recession, now they are even rarer. Despite job growth in recent months, they have been low wage positions. These new jobs don’t allow people to move upward economically. We are transforming into a 3rd world style economy. You are lucky to have a good job or you most likely have a low wage position. Even the once vaunted tech industry doesn’t pay what it did in it’s 90’s hey day, thanks to outsourcing and H1-B visas. America’s middle class is being destroyed.
The U.S. labor market has been looking stronger in recent months. Since jobs began to increase in early 2010, private-sector companies have added two million workers, with the overwhelming bulk of the gains coming from small businesses. So far this year, payroll increases have accelerated to 214,000 per month, the strongest four-month pace in five years.
But there’s a catch. The quality of the jobs the U.S. is creating right now in terms of pay, benefits, hours, and skills leaves a lot to be desired. The problem is not only the depth of the recession and the sluggishness of the recovery. It also reflects the changing structure of the U.S. economy, as more manufacturing operations shift to overseas locations, while service businesses, which often pay much less, take a more dominant role in job creation.
Previously high-paying jobs in manufacturing have gone the way of the Edsel. U.S. factories lost 3 million jobs from 2000 to 2004, jobs that did not return during the boom leading up to the recession, along with another 2.2 million from 2007 to 2010. Those are unlikely to come back, as well. Manufacturing jobs were 20 percent of private-sector payrolls in 1990, 15 percent in 2000, and just over 10 percent in April. Large multinational corporations have cut 2.9 million U.S. jobs over the past decade, while adding 2.4 million workers to their overseas operations.
Read the rest: Where have all the high-paying jobs gone?
This is unacceptable. America was once at the forefront of upward mobility and economic opportunity. Clearly our economic system is out of date and can’t compete in a globalized economy. Our leaders in both parties refuse to address this issue. Obama’s polices are making matters worse! If things continue the day will come that Americans will immigrate to other nations to seek better lives. Think it can’t happen? Read about Argentina.
We need to restore the American dream or else we will be a bankrupted has been power. Low wage jobs will not sustain America’s economic power. Without a good economy we will not be a world power for long.
(Hat Tip: Iron Fist)
Tags: Jobs, The Obama Boom
