Service-sector Employment Dominates U.S. Economy Percentage of U.S. Jobs in the Service Sector
86%
(Information and noninformation services) Source: Apte, Karmarkar & Nath, 2008
On U.S. Competitiveness
“Economic success is increasingly based on the effective utilization of intangible assets, such as knowledge, skills, and innovative potential as the key resource for competitive advantage.” —Economic and Social Research Council, 2005
“Because other nations have, and probably will continue to have, the competitive advantage of a low wage structure, the United States must compete by optimizing its knowledge-based resources, particularly in science and technology, and by sustaining the most fertile environment for new and revitalized industries and the well-paying jobs they bring.” —Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century: An Agenda for American Science and Technology. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, 2007
w w w. 2 1 s t c e n t u r y s k i l l s . o r g
“America’s lead over its economic rivals has been entirely forfeited, with many nations surging ahead in school attainment. … The skills slowdown is the biggest issue facing the country. … [t]his slowmoving problem, more than any other, will shape the destiny of the nation.” —David Brooks, New York Times columnist, 2008