Polarized job market hurting those in the middle, study says.

American at the top and the bottom of the income scale are benefiting from the jobs recovery, while those in the middle are being left behind. Professions in the middle, such as financial services and specialty construction, aren’t faring well since the jobs recovery began in February 2010.

Such a shortfall helps explain why income levels have yet to return to levels seen before the recession began and why consumer spending over the past two years has grown at the slowest pace in the post-World War II era. It also suggests a pool of unemployed American will prevent wage increases from fueling inflation. It is hard to imagine how we can have a self-sustaining economic recovery when you’re not creating jobs for the middle.

Alex Kowalski, The Boston Globe, April 12, 2012