60% Of New Jobs In 2010 Were In Low-Paying Industries

Following last week's disappointing job report, investment research group TrimTabs brings us an even sharper picture of an economy not on the verge of an economic recovery. (Hat tip to Zero Hedge.)

TrimTabs drills into the Labor Bureau's data for new jobs added in last year, to reveal some unsetting details: "Of the 1.1 million private jobs gained in the last year, 650,000 or 60% are jobs that have absolutely no real wealth creation capacity, nor do they provide any real benefits."

60% of new jobs went to Temporary Help, Leisure & Hospitality and Retail trade. Leisure and hospitality pays an average hourly wage of $13.14, while a retail salesperson brings in an average of $11.84 an hour, according to the BLS' database. Temporary help services can be slightly more lucrative at the higher end (Registered Nurses earn $32.77 an hour), but packers and packagers only earn an average of $8.62 per hour.

As TrimTabs puts it:



These jobs are certainly better than no jobs. But for the economy to grow sustainably -- without the crutches of $1+ trillion per year in federal deficit spending, zero percent dictated interest rates, and tens of billions per month in central bank debt monetization -- American companies need to start generating more higher-paying jobs at home.

Last December, the New York Times reviewed a grim reality for Americans returning to the workforce after a layoff. All too often, new job means a lower standard of living and less satisfying work. The effects are emotional as well as economic:

"In many cases, these people are not very happy," said Cliff Zukin, professor of public policy and political science at Rutgers University and one of the authors of the study. "They're the winners who got new jobs, but they're not really what they want, and not where they want to be."

Check out Zero Hedge for more information.

Comments

[fortressfountain]

11:15 AM on 01/16/2011

Why put so much money into education when a lot of unemployed people I know have multiple degrees?
Oh I know, settle for less and ask the church for help. The church is the government.

[BlueGreen55]

10:19 PM on 01/15/2011

Surprised? Not at all.

[condor101]

09:24 AM on 01/15/2011

Last year I worked for 5 months in an $8/hour factory job. It was very hard work, but I stayed because i needed the money. I barely qualifed for Food Stamps because i was told by the Dept of Social Services that I made too much money. It was a real kick in my face.
The company was very successful and had revenues over 10 million per year. The owner was making over 1.3 Million dollars.
My job really demanded a pay of at least $10/hr. But if the owner had to pay all of his workers $2 more, then he would make $100K less. So instead of bringing in 1.3 Million, he would take home 1.2 Million.
It's a shame that his Greed overtook his sense of humanity. He was a real S.O.B.
Greed is the real reason that the minimum wage is held down so low.
Raise the Minimum Wage and let people make a decent living.

[NiacMas]

02:26 PM on 01/15/2011

Raise the minimum wage so that the average person without children can afford a roof over their head and not have to work 24/7 in order to do that. Parents with children, teens/young adults, disabled, senior citizens, and some mortgage holders have resources. Many of the rest of us are looking at this:

Let's see: $7.35@hr minimum wage x 40 hr work week (if you can get it) = $294 @ week before mandatory taxes and/or dues - make too much money to qualify for much of anything if you want/need it: Subtract approximately $10 - $150 @ week for taxes/dues .

---The average rent (in this area is approximately $850 @ month without utilities (Gas, Electric, Water). Mortgage plus insurances?

---3, 4, or more paychecks a month needed for rent or mortgage;

---Balance -$0.00 to +$200 @ month to cover utilities, food/groceries, transportation/car costs (bus/cab fare, mandatory car registrations and insurance)

---Additional necessary costs: rent insurance, telehone for work;

---Clothing, fun, entertainment, TV, cable, telephone (casual), internet, what's that?

Wouldn't it make more sense to raise minumum wage to $10 @ hr, control price gouging and mortgage/rent costs and get more people off of assistance - less cost to government, more taxes collected, a productive economy, a people that feels good about themselves, their government, and their country. Maybe then, too, our country and businesses would not feel it necessary to sell our land and assets to foreign investors.

[LadyDusky]

05:26 AM on 01/15/2011

Yet jobs continue to be outsourced, and workers continue to be brought into the country.

[hswanson2]

10:40 PM on 01/14/2011

Trickle down theory at work - pay one CEO a billion dollars and he will spend at least $1,800 a year on lattes - barista jobs for all.

[condor101]

09:07 AM on 01/15/2011

So true!

[coco38]

03:31 PM on 01/15/2011

and as the job market continues to "rebound" no one will discern the truth that the "jobs" will be mostly low paying jobs. there are folks out there that have all kinds of degrees and experience that will never find a job in their field but will be forced to work for minimum wage. - just sickening!

[David Hall 3]

08:52 PM on 01/14/2011

City, County, State and Federal government agencies are going to cut back on expenditures at least 20 percent this year -- meaning staffing, needed products and contracted for services; we'll see another substantial round of layoffs because cash from Washington (stimulus) is over; consumers are underwater in their mortgages and have no plans for big upgrades; residential real estate has an estimated 7,000,000 units for sale, in foreclosure, or not declared as foreclosed so in limbo (conservative figure); commercial real estate is vastly overbuilt as well, with vacancy rates higher than at any time in the last 50 years. At least 16million people are unemployed, with another 10million people employed in jobs that pay substantially less than their previous jobs did; Wall Street is waiting for you to start spending again like you did in 2007 before they've any interest in hiring but you don't have any where near the assets or bandwidth for spending now that you did then; they continue to dump money in to China under the delusional fantasy that real growth there isn't mostly based upon bubble economics and corruption.

Meanwhile, there's no real interest of substantial long term investment initiatives to upgrade infrastructure projects across the country to get people back to work; there's about 12 months of unemployment benefits left for millions of long term unemployed; the elderly aren't to get an increase in their rediculously low poverty level social security this year, and they'll be asked to pay more for medical... GROWTH?

[OldTulsan]

05:12 PM on 01/14/2011

http://money.cnn.com/2011/01/14/news/economy/larry_summers_fareed_zakaria/index.htm
Larry Summers: New job growth ahead - Jan. 14, 2011

"NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- While the economy is still reeling from 8.5 million jobs lost in the recession, the outlook for job growth in America is looking up, former White House economic advisor Larry Summers said in an exclusive interview airing on CNN Sunday.

"I think the prospects for starting to see significan­t employment growth and reductions in unemployme­nt right now are better than they've been in the United States in a number of years," he told CNN's Fareed Zakaria.

[snip]

Health care and the IT industry, however, are likely to see job growth ahead, he said.

"Some of the jobs that were lost aren't going to come back, but some of the jobs are going to come in new places," he said..."

"Would you like fries with that order ?"

[coco38]

03:37 PM on 01/15/2011

that's still bad news. the IT & health sectors means only so many people will qualify for those jobs. these sectors alone can't offer everyone meaningful employment and wages. the sad thing; so many will go back to school but will not get one of these jobs. some will be out of luck, and others won't have the aptitude.

we need various sectors to open up for folks with skills in hand. taking on more debt for education isn't something many can afford. many will take out loans but will never be able to pay them off.

[nobodysgirl]

03:08 PM on 01/14/2011

I suppose this counts as news, although anyone who could not see this coming must be blind.

The big biz herd does not want good paying jobs here; that might dent their profit margins, which have gone thru the stratosphere recently. They want people to be oppressed and poor, so they can control salaries through the old supply vs. demand excuse. That's why they've outsourced, off-shored, and decreased their employee loads - the more people suffering for a job, the better - they can control the salary amounts and the masses.

[NiacMas]

04:03 PM on 01/14/2011

This is one thing I have always wondered about: If companies are willing to outsource to other countries, why can't they, instead, outsource to citizens of the US? There are many of us who would be willing to work from home making calls (not sales), doing computer work, etc. I would say I know more about computers than most of the 1st line call center employees do and can speak English, and could very easily assist with software and hardware issues, thus possibly eliminating some of the 1st line employees and possibly some 2nd and 3rd level employees. I would even be willing to bet that some of us would even be OK with receiving lesser money than we are used to for this part-time work.

OK, so you say security is the issue? Well, it doesn't have to be computer issues, it can be something that doesn't require too much security. Benefits to the employer: No overhead, minimal if any taxes, no benefits required, sub-contracting, etc.

Is there still an incentive to outsource overseas? I saw an article where Africa is now being considered for outsourcing.

[LadyDusky]

05:21 AM on 01/15/2011

Even from home, we won't work for $3 an hour.

[NiacMas]

02:55 PM on 01/15/2011

In response to LadyDusky's comment about not working for $3 an hour...

If it means putting 'bread' on the table, some of us would work for $3 an hour if that was all that was available. I am not advocating this as a main job, more like additional income to survive. (Travel expenses would eat that $3 @ hour work if that was all there was.)

Example: I am a seasonal employee in an area where off-season work is pretty much non-existent. For five (5) months out of the year I have no choice but to live on unemployment, which for me is even less than the average recipient as half of my pay is through benefits given and not a paycheck. Unemployment only pays a percentage of your actual cash earnings on record. That $3 an hour non-commission, no sales, outsource, sub-contractor work would assist me in getting through the cold, winter months. Another $100 @ week would go a long way and would add to our economy's recovery.

Some of us are too proud to go into the Welfare lines or collect food stamps and would welcome that additional work. For me, giving back and doing something useful would assist me in keeping my self-esteem in tact through those hard, cold, off-season months.

[Harrier]

11:28 AM on 01/14/2011

The beginning of recoveries start first with lower paying jobs and work their way up as people can afford them

[NiacMas]

03:17 PM on 01/14/2011

I believe what "Harrier" said was true at one time, but in our economy now, it is not the case. My experience as an average citizen of the US in this area is this:

---You are hired in a low-paying position-you stay in a low-paying position. It is a hiring-firing assembly line here. Too many people looking for jobs. No one wants experience any more. I have tried to offer a resume to show my experience multiple times during an interview and it was turned down.

---The average salary in this area does not even come close to what is indicated as the average salary in this article. Try $7+ an hour even with experience. If you are single and paying rent, who can live on that? And now companies are offering even lower salaries?

---How can an average citizen continue to afford buying food and groceries with lower salaries and the downsizing of most items. I do not believe anyone living in upper class areas are seeing what the average citizen is seeing. Try buying a can of tuna fish in this area...the can is either less than half full or mostly water. I do not believe our government officials are seeing this kind of activity. Once my tuna fish is gone, it does not get replaced any faster than before the downsizing.

...I wish your statement was still true - but I fear our country is past this and middle class will become extinct.

[coco38]

03:42 PM on 01/15/2011

and there have been countless analysts saying this since the 60's about the end of the middle class in america...it is finally coming to fruition. and i agree with everything you're saying. this is a nightmare. it is truly survival of the greedy! I won't say the "fittest" because some of the greedy couldn't mentally make it a day with what some of us have to live on.

[ZeraLee]

07:39 AM on 01/14/2011

In measuring the job market, conservatives only count noses and ignore actual purchasing power. Perhaps they consider all income to be disposable. This deflation of wages, on a large scale, represents a real reduction in economic potential - and future growth.

Corporate America considers it cost savings, while I consider it a contraction in the economy that undermines the recovery.

Main Street is not an endless source of wealth. A consumer economy is only as sustainable as the flow of money to consumers. The more those wages are cut off, the more the economy starves.

[coco38]

03:46 PM on 01/15/2011

zeralee, democrats do the same. watch obama will laud any decrease in unemployment and any increase in jobs without taking into consideration the purchasing power of those "created" jobs that only pay pitiful wages. this is not a partisan comment but a truth. both parties (and i'm a democrat...today) will put on a blind, yet brave face as the economy begin to show signs of "strength" while ignoring the overwhelming truth that job creation after THIS recession will not mean wealth creation. And we have more nightmares to look forward to as the next depression will be the same, companies making profits deciding on a whim to cut jobs.

[stox1994]

07:17 AM on 01/14/2011

What is new? Even Bush claimed new jobs but most of them were low paying jobs. We need job sharing jobs! This is the only way the unemployment rate is going to go down. The economy has adjusted to 9% unemployment for close to two years (and according to Bernanke for years). No politicians get this. With 150K jobs needed for new graduates, people not retiring because of not saving enough and republicans not wanting to borrow, the unemployed with kids will now be Welfare precipitants. Maybe the American Dream will one day be back, but don't hold your breath!

[hswanson2]

10:42 PM on 01/14/2011

Welfare what is that - here is some foodstamps now go live in your car (you know we can't have starving people littering the streets)

[condor101]

09:16 AM on 01/15/2011

If you don't have any income, you can't qualify for Food Stamps.
You have to prove you at least make some small amount of money to get Food Stamps.
I know, because i went through the application process and i receive Food Stamps.
$200 a month allows me to buy organic foods and eat well. I stay clear away from the canned junk and other highly processed poison.

[Marian Howard McNeeley]

06:03 AM on 01/14/2011

Dont you remember cheering in the 90's when they said, America was to be a "service" nation? How much do you think they pay "servers"? Hi, welcome to America, may I take your order?

[costellowriter]

02:58 AM on 01/14/2011

There are a lot of good points here. And both sides are right. Some of the damage has been done through the global elite and their corrupt system. And some of the damage has been self inflicted by Americans becoming arrogant and lazy.
The important thing is - how are we going to deal with the mess?

[costellowriter]

12:18 AM on 01/14/2011

That's how the Global elite see us. As servants. It's time to fight back, by walking away and refusing to take part in their corrupt system.

[Lauteur Calme]

11:50 PM on 01/13/2011

As a distant observer, many people in the U.S. seem serenely unaware that from a world view, the con game by the Wall St. and the U.S. banking system is over.

It's astonishing to see the U.S. debt obligation at $12 trillion. This makes the U.S. one giant toxic asset..!

Through quantitative easing, the Federal Reserve is manipulating and distorting the markets. In addition, the Fed is encouragin­g people to gamble on stocks and business ventures. This prosperity based on fiction is once again destined to become a nightmare for many of the misinforme­d.

Just as people in the U.S. failed to recognize the true reason why the government and Fed encouraged others to borrow against their inflated housing prices, the signals that borrowers use
to assess risk are once again being intentionally distorted..!

I'm curious to know to what extent ordinary tax paying citizens are aware of the incredible stupidity of bailing out the insurance, auto, and financial industries by their government­..?

[spinotter11]

12:55 AM on 01/14/2011

We know but we can't do anything about it. The politicians' pockets are being lined by those who want the bailouts.

[costellowriter]

02:53 AM on 01/14/2011

We can. It's just people are too apathetic and lazy. They're all expecting "someone" else too fix it all. But everybody has the power to walk away from this system. Google: Buy Silver, Crash JP Morgan.

[spinotter11]

08:29 AM on 01/14/2011

There are a few individuals who are ready to fight the good fight, but it takes a critical mass to start anything going, and as I'm sure you realize, we are very very far from having a critical mass of citizens even agreeing on what the problem is.