Chris Kirkham — Jobs Report Makes Headlines, Masks Low-Paying Reality

More than half of the jobs created last month were in lower-wage industries, such as retail and hospitality. Hourly earnings in those service sectors are far lower than in areas such as construction and manufacturing, which saw no job growth last month and were two of the hardest-hit by the recession.

"You have these data blips coming in, and everyone wants to make something of them, but the jobs that are being created just aren't great jobs," said Kent Smetters, a professor of business economics and public policy at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania....

"There's just a surplus of labor that allows firms to bid down wages," said Joseph Brusuelas, a senior economist at Bloomberg....

"Nothing's really changed. It was a good report, but problems persist -- and significant ones," Brusuelas said. "We're adding jobs at about 150,000 a month, the majority of them are low-paying jobs, and the pace of job creation, while a positive, is not sufficient to bring the unemployment rate down for the right reasons."

The Huffington Post

Jobs Report Makes Headlines, Masks Low-Paying Reality
Chris Kirkham