There have been healthy gains in employment in highly paid occupations, such as computer and information systems managers, and a rise in lowpaid jobs, such as home health-care workers, but growth has been much slower in occupations with earnings in the middle of the distribution, such as machinists. This trend accelerated during the Great Recession and the ensuing recovery.
For example, food services, retail, and employment services, all low-wage industries, accounted for nearly 45 percent of net employment growth from the start of the recovery through early 2012, while employment in a number of industries that offer good jobs for mid-wage workers – including construction, manufacturing, and finance, insurance, and real estate – did not grow in those years or grew too slowly to make up for their job losses during the recession.