Dive Brief:
- Month-by-month, more and more people are entering the workforce, but that has not translated into as many first-time or low-end home buyers as might have been expected.
- One answer for this is because the 8.7 million jobs the U.S. economy has created since the recession typically pay 23% less than the ones that disappeared.
- A new report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors states that the average wage for sectors that took a hit in the recession was $61,637, but the average wage in the sectors where the new jobs are is $47,171.
Dive Insight:
The mayors also report that the result of having lower-paid workers now has widened the gap between the median wage and the people in the top 20% of income-earners. The study also shows that Southern metro areas have more than half their workers in the low part of the range. Those with half or more of workers earning $75,000 or more are coastal metros, like tech hubs.