Middle-class job losses? (2)

The Wall Street Journal today carries an opinion piece by Stephen J. Rose (subscription required), a labor economist with the Progressive Policy Institute, titled “The Myth of Middle-Class Job Loss.” Rose disputes the belief that globalization and trade have caused significant middle-class job losses in the U.S. Instead, he notes, higher-paying jobs have been increasing over the past three decades and indeed have increased since the passage of NAFTA — often cited as a major factor in job losses. In particular, Rose says, well-paying jobs for women have grown most notably and for men with more than a high-school education. The category that has experienced higher-pay job losses are men with less education who formerly may have been employed in the manufacturing sector.

Read my earlier post commenting on his lengthier PPI article on which the WSJ piece was based.