The Unknown Ideal

First, Economist John Schmitt on the long-term, broad outlook, in a new paper from CEPR:

After controlling for improvements between 1979 and 2004 in the “human capital” of the U.S. workforce —American workers today are, on average, older and much better educated than they were at the end of the 1970s—the economy now produces 25 to 30 percent fewer good jobs than it did 25 years ago.

Then, John Challenger, on recent decimation of Tech Sector jobs in the US:

Technology sector job cuts for the first three quarters of the year were up 18.8% over the same period in 2004, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a global outplacement company.
. . .
Unlike other U.S. industries that have seen cuts -- even as new jobs were being added -- the tech segment has lost jobs without a similar rate of hiring to offset the cuts, John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement.

"The gradual slowdown in job cuts would be more encouraging if it were complemented by a rise in hiring, but job creation simply has not materialized," Challenger said. "The industry may indeed be recovering when it comes to revenue, profits and earnings, but certainly not when it comes to employment."