The US government’s claim that the nation’s economy and employment situation are improving is “very misleading,” with job gains being largely in lower-paying industries such as food servers, an American economist told Press TV on Wednesday.
According to new data from the Census Bureau, the number of US residents living in poverty increased to 46.5 million last year from 46.2 million in 2011, the latest sign that ordinary Americans are not benefiting from the recovery.
In addition, most of the jobs that have been created since 2007-2009 recession have been in services industries such as retail and restaurants that typically do not pay well.
“The claimed improvements in the American economy and particularly with respect to employment have been very misleading,” said Paul Sheldon Foote, a professor of accounting at California State University.
“A large percentage of the jobs have gone to waitresses, bartenders and other low-income level positions,” Foote noted.
“We have large numbers of Americans who are now living with their parents, they cannot afford their own homes,” he said.
Quality of jobs is an increasing concern for US policy makers and economists since it affects the level of incomes and wage disparities.
A recent study by the Internal Revenue Service has shown that the income gap between the richest 1 percent in the United States and the rest of the American people reached its widest point in 2012 since 1928.
The wealthiest 10 percent collected 48.2 percent of the total earnings in 2012, according to the study.
AHT/ARA
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/09/19/324823/us-economy-very-misleading/