Most jobs created since the recession have been low-paying
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Three-quarters of U.S. jobs created since the 2008-'09 financial crash pay less than a middle-class income, according to an Axios analysis of U.S. Labor Department data.
What's going on: On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy continued a 94-month jobs growth streak. It added 201,000 jobs, and the fastest wage growth since June 2009.
Why it matters: Not all jobs are created equal.
- Since the crash, about 75% of new jobs have paid less than $50,000 a year, putting them just above the $45,000 annual middle-class threshold for a household.
- Professions that were once the backbone of the middle class have been vanishing, and similar professions have not been bubbling up to take their place, report the WP's Andrew Van Dam and Heather Long.
- Most wage growth since 2009 has been concentrated in the extreme lows and highs.
Each bubble in the chart represents an occupation group as defined by the BLS. The horizontal position of the bubble is the median annual earnings, and the vertical position is the total change in number of jobs in the profession. The size of the bubble represents the total number employed, and color corresponds to change in inflation-adjusted annual earnings.
Go deeper: Are you in the middle class?
