EPI Journal--Winter 2004Between June and November 2003, the economy generated 1.26 million fewer jobs than the 1.5 million jobs that the president’s Council of EconomicAdvisers told us to expect. Employers have responded to the economic downturn by suppressing the growth of, or reducing, wages and benefits. Jobs are being sent overseas, including many white-collar technical and computer-related jobs not previously at risk. In workplaces across the country, jobs are being lost from layoffs or attrition, while the remaining workforce is pressed to maintain or increase production in order to boost productivity. All this restructuring has led to a strong profit resurgence, with income growth in this recovery tilted far more toward profits and away from wages than in any other postwar recovery. The hourly wages of most workers are now rising more slowly than inflation. Moreover, job quality is declining, as the new jobs created pay 13% less than the jobs lost.