The February jobs report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics overall appears to be good news. There were 295,000 new jobs and unemployment dropped to 5.5%. That unemployment figure is slightly below the historical average unemployment. However, the types of jobs being created still are cause for concern.
The greatest number of jobs created were in the food service industry, 59,000, but as I showed in my article on www.Truth-out.org yesterday, "What Trickle-Down Economics Has Done to the US: The Rich Get All the Money," hospitality has the lowest average pay of any job category. The second highest number of jobs created, 51,000, was in professional and business services, one of the higher paying categories, but also one where college education is required. Retail, with 32,000 jobs created, is the second lowest paying category.
There were only 8,000 jobs created in manufacturing, compared to 22,000 in January and a three-month average through January of 31,000 per month. Other sectors with substantial numbers of new jobs included 24,000 in health care, the fourth-lowest paying category, but one where education is important, and 29,000 in construction, down by 10,000 from January, but probably understandable given the brutal winter in many parts of the country.
Even though unemployment is down and job growth continues at a good pace, middle-class jobs remain the slowest growing area.
The greatest number of jobs created were in the food service industry, 59,000, but as I showed in my article on www.Truth-out.org yesterday, "What Trickle-Down Economics Has Done to the US: The Rich Get All the Money," hospitality has the lowest average pay of any job category. The second highest number of jobs created, 51,000, was in professional and business services, one of the higher paying categories, but also one where college education is required. Retail, with 32,000 jobs created, is the second lowest paying category.
There were only 8,000 jobs created in manufacturing, compared to 22,000 in January and a three-month average through January of 31,000 per month. Other sectors with substantial numbers of new jobs included 24,000 in health care, the fourth-lowest paying category, but one where education is important, and 29,000 in construction, down by 10,000 from January, but probably understandable given the brutal winter in many parts of the country.
Even though unemployment is down and job growth continues at a good pace, middle-class jobs remain the slowest growing area.
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