Saturday, September 1, 2012

Some 58% of the jobs created during the Obama "recovery" have been low-wage positions, according to a new report by the National Employment Law Project

Only 22% have been mid-wage jobs and 20% higher-wage positions. These low-wage jobs pay $13.83 an hour or less. The explosion in low-wage job growth comes after the Great Recession hammered the mid-wage job sector. Some 60% of the jobs lost during the downturn were mid-wage, as opposed to 21% of low-wage and 19% of higher-wage positions. The fastest growing low-wage jobs include retail salespeople, food prep workers, laborers and freight workers, waiters and waitresses, personal and home care aides, office clerks and customers representatives. The NELP study backs up a separate report from the Department of Labor that showed that more than half of displaced workers who lost their jobs during the recovery and found new ones were working for lower wages. Only 46% of these re-employed, full-time workers were earning as much as they did at the jobs they lost. About one-third reported taking a pay cut of 20% or more.

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