Wow! What an Economy!

May marked the nation's third straight month of job growth ...The strongest service-sector bets are in education, health care, and state and local government. The single best choice may be to join the ranks of registered nurses (623,000 new jobs).

But here's the depressing news: Of the top 10 occupations with the rosiest projections, seven are by and large poorly paid McJobs: retail (596,000 new jobs by 2012), customer service (460,000), food preparation (454,000), cashiers (454,000), janitors (414,000), waiters and waitresses (367,000), and nursing aides (343,000). And the .::BLS::. [Bureau of Labor Statistics] admits its numbers don't distinguish between full-time jobs with benefits and part-time or temp work. In other words, there will be plenty of jobs, but far fewer careers.

...the gist trickles down through the media and career counselors, and through the anecdotes of friends and relatives. The result? A rapid drop in enrollment at Web, tech-related, and manufacturing programs, and a stampede into programs for accounting, education, and especially nursing. Some of the cheaper nursing programs, at technical schools, already have one- to two-year waiting lists, and programs elsewhere can cost $60,000.

.::read the rest::.

But wait a minute, the GOP-ites all say that the economy is doing so swell under their free-market driven guidance, that the outsourcing they think so much of will leave the privileged citizens of this country with the highly technical, high paying jobs. With the dubious exception of nursing aides, there isn't a single job category that could be considered highly-skilled in any of those named by the BLS. What gives? Surely the repugnant... uh, rethuglicans aren't lying to their faithful free market minions? Surely the government's own agency is having a bit of fun at our expense...