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Long way to go for American worker to bounce back

Regarding two Associated Press articles in Saturday’s Business section, “More Americans see middle-class status painfully slipping” and “US recovers job losses of recession,” two additional points could be made.

American workers and wage-earners are still coping with the exodus of jobs overseas, not just in manufacturing, but in customer service, tech support, and other sectors. This, in addition to increased computerization and automation, has created a huge vacuum in which were once well-paying jobs. Working at minimum-wage fast-food outlets or clerking at big-box stores used to be a starting point for lesser-skilled people who wanted to learn and advance. Now it is the only job many can get to support themselves; hence, the current debate over raising the minimum wage.

In addition, with today’s corporate focus on maximizing profits, many businesses, despite a growing economy, still look upon hiring additional employees as a threat to profits, and something to be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

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We still have a long way to go.

Joseph Couture
Ipswich