Decades ago, most U.S. companies hired locally, few jobs required a college education and even high school dropouts could find well-paying work. However, the world has changed. With automation and overseas outsourcing eliminating many low-skilled jobs--and, increasingly, many higher-skilled ones--more and more Americans need postsecondary…

The rising wage inequality in U.S. urban labor markets during the 1980s was examined in a study of 20 metropolitan area labor markets. The study's perspective differs from the prevailing perspective on the problem in three ways: (1) it focuses on changes in the wage structure in a sample of local labor markets; (2) it examines changes in the…