Michael R. Strain, Columnist

America’s Middle Class Shows Signs of Life

Lamenting the loss of traditional jobs won't help. Promoting the growth of new middle-skill jobs will.

June 18, 2019 at 3:30 PM UTC

Michael R. Strain is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is director of economic policy studies and Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of “The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It).”

Skilled health-care workers might be joining the middle class.
Photographer: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

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One of the biggest concerns in recent decades has been the “hollowing out” of middle-wage, middle-skill jobs. Employment at the low and high ends of the income scale has risen faster, and many jobs that have traditionally supported the middle class have suffered by comparison, with ramifications that are social and political as well as economic.

But there’s good news: This shift may not be permanent.