facts and nonpartisan perspectives on the issues

IN THIS ISSUE

Investment in Job Training

The job market was a key campaign issue when the presidential candidates swung through Michigan and Ohio, and it's a topic sure to be on voters' minds in the Pennsylvania primary as well. For several election cycles, office seekers have debated how to cultivate well-paying jobs for working-class voters, and this year is no exception, either on the presidential campaign trail or in statehouses across the country.

Urban Institute researchers can provide facts and nonpartisan perspectives on the health of the job market, job training programs, and the state of the skilled workforce.

KEY FACTS

• Federal projections estimate about 45 percent of the 55 million job openings expected between 2004 and 2014 will be middle-skill jobs, occupations that require more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year degree.
• While some middle-skill positions have declined in numbers recently—notably manufacturing jobs—others have seen robust growth. Between 1986 and 2006, the number of health technician jobs rose to more than 1 million from about 400,000. The number of positions in construction grew from about 5 million to about 9 million.
• The number of trained workers is not expected to keep pace with the number of middle-skill jobs over the next decade.
• Several middle-skill occupations have shown strong wage growth in the past decade. Registered nurses' wages grew by 18 percent and radiological technicians' pay jumped by 23 percent between 1997 and 2005. Average real wages grew by 5 percent during the period.
• Federal investment in worker training has declined in recent decades. Since 1979, real expenditures on the Department of Labor's largest workforce development efforts have dropped by more than 70 percent to about $5 billion in all.

Additional analysis is available in UI reports:

• America's Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs: Education and Training Requirements in the Next Decade and Beyond —Harry Holzer and Robert I. Lerman
• Reshaping the American Workforce in a Changing Economy—Harry Holzer
• Economic Costs of Inadequate Investments in Workforce Development—Harry Holzer
• Building Skills and Promoting Job Advancement: The Promise of Employer-Focused Strategies—Karin Martinson

Decision Points '08 is published weekly by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan social and economic research organization.
subscribe to the Decision Points e-mail newsletter