Labor & Employment Law

State of Working America: Middle Class Lost Out Over Last 30 Years

By James Parks

The economy has changed significantly over the past 30 years, but those changes have not made life better for  low- and middle-income Americans. In the latest edition of ?The State of Working America,? Economic Policy Institute (EPI) economists point out that while the American workforce is larger, more diverse, and better educated than ever before, income growth has been slow and inequality has grown.

?State of Working America,? issued bienially since 1988, is available online in a searchable and user-friendly format. Unlike in the past, this year’s ?State of Working America? will not be published in book form. The next biennial print edition will appear in January 2013.

One new feature on the website is an interactive chart that shows the top 10 percent of the nation has gobbled up nearly all the income gains of the past three decades. Here are some other key findings in the report:

• Productivity has risen consistently over the last 30 years, but wages have stagnated.
• Policymakers have lowered taxes for the wealthy, while allowing a higher rate of unemployment. 
• The financial sector has expandded quickly in the past 30 years, while manufacturing?s share of the overall economy declined rapidly in the same period.

Click here for the online edition of “The State of Working America.”

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on February 02, 2011 (boomark / email).