Bloomberg (04/11/12) Alex Kowalski

U.S. workers in the top and lower income brackets are benefiting
more from the economic recovery than are those in the middle,
according to economists at Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan
Chase. The highest-paying jobs, which employ approximately 15% of
all workers, have accounted for 20% of the job gains since the
recovery began, while lower-paying jobs have accounted for 46% of
job gains in the same period. Technology has allowed companies to
replace middle-income “routine labor” jobs, such as
bank tellers.

“Companies have been driving, and continue to drive, for
increased productivity, to do more with less, and the tool to do
that is technology improvement,” says Jonas Prising,
president of Americas for Manpower Inc. “What are getting
squeezed are the well-paying jobs with lower-skill levels that
used to give a middle-class income.”