Yet currently the U.S. unemployment rate remains at 9.7 percent (11 million workers). Over 40 percent or about 6 million Americans have been unemployed for six months or longer. The average length of joblessness is over 31 weeks, the highest level since record keeping began in 1948.
How can we make sense of this skills and unemployment paradox? Gerald F. Seib noted in his April 2 Wall Street Journal column, “[T]he long-term unemployment problem fits into a long-term pattern in which the old job skills of many Americans no longer match the job requirements in an information-age economy.” An analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data on unemployment by educational level points to the same conclusion. The March 2010 rates were consistent with what has been reported since the beginning of the recession. The unemployment rate was 14.5% for high school dropouts, contrasted with 10.8% for high school graduates; 8.2% for those with Associate’s degrees or certificates; and 4.9% for those with Bachelor’s degrees or higher.
In 1950 the majority of U.S. jobs had no special skill requirements. By 2010 about 70 percent of good-paying jobs require specialized education and training beyond high school. This is one of the principal reasons America now faces a “jobless” recovery. The skills of many American no longer match much of the U.S. labor market requirements.
Many economists believe that the only way the U.S. can grow and pay for the entitlement shortfalls and mounting government deficits at the federal, state, and local levels will be through exporting high-value, high-tech products. This means the United States must remain a world leader in research and development and the output of aerospace, IT, nano-tech, bio-tech, new materials, and green technology products and services.
How can we make sense of this skills and unemployment paradox? Gerald F. Seib noted in his April 2 Wall Street Journal column, “[T]he long-term unemployment problem fits into a long-term pattern in which the old job skills of many Americans no longer match the job requirements in an information-age economy.” An analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data on unemployment by educational level points to the same conclusion. The March 2010 rates were consistent with what has been reported since the beginning of the recession. The unemployment rate was 14.5% for high school dropouts, contrasted with 10.8% for high school graduates; 8.2% for those with Associate’s degrees or certificates; and 4.9% for those with Bachelor’s degrees or higher.
In 1950 the majority of U.S. jobs had no special skill requirements. By 2010 about 70 percent of good-paying jobs require specialized education and training beyond high school. This is one of the principal reasons America now faces a “jobless” recovery. The skills of many American no longer match much of the U.S. labor market requirements.
Many economists believe that the only way the U.S. can grow and pay for the entitlement shortfalls and mounting government deficits at the federal, state, and local levels will be through exporting high-value, high-tech products. This means the United States must remain a world leader in research and development and the output of aerospace, IT, nano-tech, bio-tech, new materials, and green technology products and services.
