The Polarization of Job Opportunities in the U.S. Labor Market
The Center for American Progress and The Hamilton Project address how to create good, well-paid jobs to sustain and grow America's middle class in a new report and event.
The Hamilton Project and the Center for American Progress are co-hosting two conferences addressing the implications of the competitive global economy and rapid technological change for the challenge of creating high-paying jobs in the United States. The conference features the release of “The Polarization of Job Opportunities in the U.S. Labor Market” by MIT economics professor David Autor that analyzes the long-term trends in employment, earnings, and job opportunities, followed by two panels of academics, policy thinkers, and policymakers, capped off with a thought-provoking dialogue between one of the president’s top economic advisors and the mayor of the nation’s largest city.
This paper by MIT economics professor David Autor analyzes the state of the U.S. labor market over the past three decades to inform policymaking on two fronts. The first is to rigorously document and place in historical and international context the trajectory of the U.S. labor market, focusing on the evolving earnings, employment rates, and labor market opportunities for workers with low, moderate, and high levels of education. The second is to illuminate the key forces shaping this trajectory. The report explores the causes and consequences of these trends in U.S. employment patterns in detail.
The Hamilton Project and the Center for American Progress convene leaders and policy experts for the first of two conferences addressing the implications of the competitive global economy and rapid technological change for the challenge of creating high-paying jobs in the United States. Speakers include CAP President and CEO John D. Podesta, Co-Chair of the Council on Foreign Relations Robert E. Rubin, Director of The Hamilton Project Michael Greenstone, Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the Treasury Department Alan Krueger, Cecilia Rouse of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Director of the National Economic Council Lawrence H. Summers, Charlie Rose, and many others.
The positions of American Progress, and our policy experts, are independent, and the findings and conclusions presented are those of American Progress alone. A full list of supporters is available here. American Progress would like to acknowledge the many generous supporters who make our work possible.
