Employment Gains Don’t Supersize Paychecks

Job growth in Los Angeles County is on track this year to match the rates seen between 1995 and 1999, the heart of the most recent boom-boom economy. But look a little closer at the kinds of jobs being created and the picture is not nearly as comforting.

Low-wage jobs in Los Angeles County show the fastest growth by far this year 3.9 percent from January to July, according to an analysis by Christopher Thornberg, senior economist for the UCLA Anderson Forecast. By contrast, high-wage jobs had a 0.9 percent growth rate and middle-wage jobs had negative 0.3 percent growth.

Over a longer period, January 1995 to January 2004, low-wage job growth was 1.6 percent, compared with 0.3 percent in the middle-wage category and 0.6 percent at the high end.

“This corresponds to the hollowing out of the local economy with those on the two ends of the income scale representing where most of the population growth is,” Thornberg said in a report released last week.

The loss of middle-wage jobs results from several factors, including a decline in manufacturing and what is seen as a growing education gap. California and Los Angeles in particular have seen only a small drop in the number of those lacking a high school diploma. This is due to L.A.’s role as a gateway for newly arrived, often poorly educated immigrants.

Mark Lacter