America's Service Economy

Every one of the 20 fastest-growing occupations, as listed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is in the service sector. Nearly all of the 15 million jobs that have been created since the November trough of the 1982 recession have been in the service sector. About half of these jobs pay at least $10 per hour, and those paying minimum wage or less have declined by about 25 percent. The biggest increases granted under collective bargaining for 1987 as a whole and the first quarter of 1988 occurred in the services industry. Employment in the goods-producing sector rose during 26 of the past 40 years and fell during 14. In the service sector, however, employment rose during 39 of the past 40 years. Ninety-seven percent of the increase in employment between 1947 and 1987 took place in the service sector, and projections call for this trend to continue at least into the beginning of the next century. In the years between 1982 and 1987, the increase in employment in trade-related occupations has amounted to 20 percent. In finance, insurance, and real estate the increase has amounted to 23 percent. It should be noted that this increase in service sector employment levels coincided with the decline of the U.S. manufacturing sector, a period of peacetime prosperity, and significant increases in female labor force participation. (MN)