The Creative Class and the crisis

Abstract

The economic crisis contributed to sharp increases in US unemployment rates for all three of the major socio-economic classes. Results from regression models using individual-level data from the 2006-2011 US Current Population Surveys indicate that members of the Creative Class had a lower probability of being unemployed over this period than individuals in the Service and Working Classes and that the impact of having a creative occupation became more beneficial in the 2 years following the recession. These patterns, if they continue, are suggestive of a structural change occurring in the US economy - one that favours knowledge-based creative activities. © 2012 The Author.