ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 24, 1996 TAG: 9604240032
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
More new, high-paying jobs are being created than eliminated by corporate downsizing, the Clinton administration says. But it acknowledges worker anxiety exists in the constantly changing labor market.
A report released Tuesday by the president's Council of Economic Advisers said the economy has produced 8.5 million more nonfarm jobs than it lost since January 1993.
Two-thirds of the new jobs were in occupations that paid more than the $25,000 median wage, said the study ``Job Creation and Employment Opportunities: The United States Labor Market, 1993-1996.''
Still, the report continued, ``it is clear that the speed of transformation in the U.S. labor market has left many American workers anxious about their economic futures.''
The plight of what Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich has termed ``the anxious class'' has become a political issue, with Democrats and Republicans differing about solutions.
In a report last week, the National Association of Manufacturers also acknowledged ``there is anxiety, and good grounds for it. But there is opportunity, and lots of it.''
It also contended that huge layoffs are more than offset by job creation but said demands for higher skills, downsizing, outsourcing and process changes result in insecurity.
``All make for a new and less predictable work environment for many workers,'' it said.
The administration report said 38 percent of new jobs in 1994 and 1995 were in service industries, which include low-wage positions but also high-wage positions in financial, hospital, computer and accounting services.
``The conventional wisdom suggesting that the growth in service sector employment is disproportionately concentrated in low-wage job categories is wrong,'' it argued. ``Employment in `hamburger-flipping jobs' actually fell between 1994 and 1995.''
The study also found the proportion of people employed part-time has declined slightly and said data indicate most of the new jobs over the past three years have been full-time.
Real wage growth slowed and income inequality widened between the 1970s and early 1990, the report said. That contributed to worker anxiety, it said.
``In recent years, however, there are some encouraging signs that the tide may be turning,'' it added, reporting that in 1994 ``real median family income rose and the poverty rate fell for the first time in five years.''
The report also notes that by some measures workers are becoming more secure. Recent surveys show consumer confidence above the historical average, it said.
``Nevertheless, considerable evidence suggests that many Americans are concerned, some very concerned, about job displacement,'' it said.
``Technology is constantly changing. New companies start up, and some old ones contract or close down.''
When faced with job loss, the report said, workers must be equipped with the tools to find new jobs quickly.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB