The comment below, from John Dewey on this post, deserves to be highlighted as a post of its own:
Harold Meyerson assertion about wages:
meyerson: “the vast majority of new jobs in recent decades has come in the service and retail sectors, which tend not to be as productive and don’t pay as well.”
… is wrong.
The truth? In most service sectors, wages exceed those of the manufacturing sector:
sector …………………………..median wage
information (incl telecom)………$23.10
government………………….….$20.86
educational services…………….$19.85
finance and insurance…………..$19.63
transportation/warehousing…….$18.39
construction…………………….$18.38
wholesale trade…………………$17.72
manufacturing…………………..$16.62
health care and social service…$15.65
retail trade………………………..$10.55
accomodation/food services…….$8.62Source: BLS 2008 National Industry Survey
