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President Obama opened his January 2014 State of the Union address citing evidence of an American economy gaining strength. At the same time, he also acknowledged the growing income inequality and diminished opportunities for upward economic mobility that threaten to stall or even derail this progress. Consider the following U.S. labor market statistics. At the end of 2013, the unemployment rate dipped below 7 percent for the first time since November 2008.1 Average job growth for 2013 was 194,000 jobs per month.2 The private sector has added jobs for the last 46 consecutive months.3 The economy has grown at an annual rate of nearly 2 percent or better for the last four years.
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