Quote from CoolTrader:
If outsourcing can make middle class disappear, why the unemployment rate and the personal income report doesn't change dramatically?
The change in real before-tax family income between 2001-2004 stands in strong contrast to the change for the preceding three-year period. Over the more recent period [2001-2004], median income rose 1.6%, while the mean fell 2.3%. Over the preceding three-year period, the median had increased 9.5% and the mean had increased 17.3%. The change over the 01-04 period was strongly influenced by a 6.2% decline in the overall median amount of wages measures in the survey and a 3.6% decline in the mean; wages represent the largest share of family income. Investment related incomes also declined.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/bulletin/2006/financesurvey.pdf
Among age-by-sex groups, the participation shortfall is especially pronounced at young and prime ages: Only for men and women age 55 and older has participation risen more than is usual four years after the business cycle peak.
The brief examines explanations and different recovery scenarios for various groupsâolder workers, women, teens. Depending on the scenario, the current labor force shortfall ranges from 1.6 million to 5.1 million men and women. With 7.9 million people currently unemployed, the addition of these hypothetical participants would
raise the unemployment rate by 1 to 3-plus percentage points. Current low rates of labor market participation thus potentially represent
considerable slack in the U.S. labor market.
http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/ppb/2005/ppb052.htm
The expansion of 2/61 - 12/69 created 17,684,000 total jobs and 6,244,000 at 49 months.
The expansion of 3/75 - 7/80 created 13,183,000 total jobs and 12,831,000 at 49 months.
The expansion of 11/82 - 7/90 created 21,003,000 total jobs and 11,510,000 at 49 months.
The expansion of 3/91 - 3/01 created 23,969,000 total jobs and 8,266,000 at 49 months.
The current expansion which started in November 2001 has created a total of 3,410,000 jobs.