Finally, Good News for Workers at the Bottom

Black teens, the poorly educated, and the disabled are landing jobs

In the low-paying leisure and hospitality sector, average hourly earnings rose 3.4 percent from January 2014.
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg

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By Peter Coy

February 12, 2015 at 10:12 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

This article is part of the February 16, 2015 issue of businessweek.

It’s taken too long, but the U.S. economic expansion is finally benefiting people at the bottom of the ladder. Consider these stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ January jobs report: Employment of people without a high school degree rose 6 percent over the past year. Employment of black teens rose 18 percent. Employment of the disabled rose 20 percent.

There are some early signs that their bosses are paying a little better, too. In the low-paying leisure and hospitality sector, average hourly earnings rose 3.4 percent from January 2014, well ahead of the 2.2 percent rise for the overall labor force. (Mind you, the average in leisure and hospitality was still only $14.15 an hour.)