Problem area: Men’s employment
The percentage of men between the ages of 25 and 54 and who are employed has dropped consistently since the early 1960s.
Problem area: Low-education individuals, especially men
Broadly speaking, people with higher education have done well in recent years, and people without college degrees have suffered. Once again, this is especially true for men.
Problem area: People wanting to own a home
The good news is the market value of the nation’s real estate finally climbed back past its pre-recession peak in 2016. It rose higher still in both 2017 and 2018.
The bad news is the percentage of Americans owning a home remains lower than it was before the Great Recession.
Problem area: Rural America
Certain portions of the country, largely rural areas, have suffered in an economy that tends to reward highly educated areas.
These have suffered from the cumulative decline of manufacturing and their lack of proximity to faster-growing "knowledge industries" that are typically based near cities.
In a self-perpetuating cycle, economic distress in these areas has produced addiction and poor health outcomes, which in turn further erodes economic prospects.
GOOD NEWS!
The unemployment rate is either at or near all-time lows, both overall and for major racial and ethnic groups. The economy continues to create substantial numbers of jobs on a monthly basis, and quarterly increases in gross domestic product, while not stratospheric, have been solid. Even wages, which had been stagnant overall in the first few years of the recovery following the Great Recession, have been increasing beyond the rate of inflation.
Indeed, there’s lots to celebrate, said Gary Burtless, an economist with the Brookings Institution.
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