>> announcer: this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and sue herera. >> good evening everyone and welcome to this special edition of "nightly business report." i'm tyler mathisen. >> and i'm sue herera and tonight we are going to take a close look at jobs in america. it is been the focus of president obama since he took office eight years ago. it's been the target of president-elect trump as he prepares to enter the white house. it is something that main street wants more of that wall street obsesses over and that the federal reserve basises their policy decisions on and as we all know in this past election the uneven nature of the labor market recovery was a top issue for voters. >> if you look at the numbers the labor market today appears

solid, more than 11 million jobs have been created over the past eight years. the most recent employment reports show that at the end of 2016 the unemployment rate was 4.7% that was the lowest level to end the year in a decade and less than half of the roughly 10% peak in 2009. wages rose at their fastest clip since the great recession last year something american workers have been waiting a long time for. december 2016 almost marked the 75th straight month of job creation the longest streak in the 75 years that they have been reporting. and americans quitting their jobs is rising. confident that they can find a new better paying job quickly. >> the numbers look good. while every american is benefiting. job growth has been concentrated in some industries more than others and in some parts of the country more than others. and also because the development

of new technologies. so we decided to look at not just the quantity but the quality of those newly created positions. >> the nations employment picture has improved but measuring improvement isn't always easy. >> yes, our progress has been uneven and the good news is that today the economy is growing again, wages, incomes, home values and retirement accounts are all rising again. >> the department of labor says we added more than 2 million jobs last year. how good, though, are those new jobs? the average national wage rose almost 3% last year hitting $26 last month but many new hires aren't making that much. when the economy is performing reasonably well, says most new hires nearly 60% are paid above average. you can see the dip there in 2010 followed by a recovery. in 2014 only 40% of new hires

topped the average wage, that number bounced back in 2015. in 2016, though, the department of labor says hiring in the best paying sectors, utilities and informations was flat. the next highest payer the financial sector added 159,000 jobs last year but that sector still counts 45,000 fewer employees than it did when it peaked in 2006. professional and business services is the only high paying sector to add a substantial number of jobs, more than half a million. construction jobs pay above average but added only 100,000 jobs. mining and logging which includes oil and natural gas was down in december and is still down, way down off by 26% since september of 2014. and the manufacturing sector lost workers for the year. so who he is getting hired? the answer is, a good number of

people making less than $26 an hour. health services and private education workers who make just under $26 and hour added almost 600,000 employees and leisure and hospitality workers who make significantly less than $26 an hour count 295,000 new workers. that's almost 900,000 jobs paying less than the current average wage. challenges do remain the economy is growing more slowly than in past recoveries. >> too many of our families in incidentallier cities and in rural counts have been left behind. >> critics worry about workforce participation near a four decade low. less than 63% due in part to huge numbers of baby boomers retiring but also do in part to people opting not to look for work. they're doing so even as employers post record numbers of

job openings and complain about a lack of qualified workers. >> so the question is, can we close the skills gap in the talent pool? and if we can, can we do it fast enough to keep up with the number of jobs we're losing to automation? >> so while questions about the job market do remain, president-elect trump has made a big promise to boost hiring. >> over the next ten years our economic team estimates that under our plan, the economy will average 3.5% growth and create a total of 25 million new jobs. >> but is that even possible as workplaces do become more automated and the very nature of work changes pretty dramatically. robert solomon is the professor of management and he joins us now to talk about that. welcome back, professor. nice to of you here. >> thanks for having me. >> that is the question, can we create the jobs in those numbers given of the changing dynamic in

the workplace. >> i think it will be exceeding difficult to hit the 25 million jobs number. if we look at the clinton administration, under which the most jobs under any president since fdr were created, under the clinton administration, 20 million or nearly 20 million jobs were created. in order for trump to create 25 million jobs, a lot will have to go absolutely perfectly. >> so what's a reasonable number do you think in this economy right now with unemployment at 4.7% for job growth going forward? >> that's a good question. i think the main thing is to try to encourage those people who have dropped out of the labor force to rejoin the labor force and as the economy grows, that will will continue to happen. i think that some of the tax policies that the trump administration is looking to put through could also help growth increase, but i do not see a

huge productivity boom that would lead to any kind of gain like 25 million and one of the things that's working against us is that over the next five years, people of prime working age between 25 and 54 years old, that number will actually go down. so it will be very, very hard to hit a 25 million number over the next four to eight years. >> what about the skill set of american workers in general? are you one who is as worried as others are that the rise of automation has really changed the dynamic in the workforce and that those workers who have lost their jobs are not trained for the new type of jobs that are being created? >> i do. i do agree that there is something of a skills mismatch between the jobs that are available right now in the economy in which we live and the economy of tomorrow.

which i refer to as something of a digital age or a digital -- digital economy versus the kinds of skills that people have and are equipped for in the economy of yesterday which was an industrial economy. so as we move from an industrial age into a digital age, we're finding that it's very, very difficult to get people equipped for this new reality. >> quick answer please to what i know is a hard question, what is the single most constructive thing the incoming administration could do to amp up job growth and get the economy growing at a higher plat tow? >> well i think that their aim will be to do it that through tax reductions. that will be the main way to do it. i also think job retraining for those folks who are equipped only for the industrial kind of economy to retrain them for the skills that they'll need to be employed in the digital economy. >> we have just about 30 seconds left, is there a risk that the

new administration has very ambitious goals and certainly a very ambitious agenda but the workforce that is out there that is hoping that these new jobs will be created and then they are not or could not be created? >> yeah, i think that this administration looks at manufacturing as the key to reemploying those people. unfortunately, just because we retain or keep or prevent manufacturing from leaving the united states, it does not follow that manufacturing jobs will be created, because there is so much more automation now. >> professor, always a pleasure to speak with you. >> thanks for having me. >> and still ahead one place where there are not enough workers is on america's farms and it is forcing some farmers to do what they've never done before.

>> as we've reported u.s. businesses have added millions of jobs since the great recession. in fact, there are more than 5 and a half million job openings across the country, a near record level but there's one industry that is experiencing a labor shortage and it is agriculture. and now some farmers are worried that donald trump's immigration policies could make that problem even worse. aditi roy reports from california. >> this here is 70 acres.

>> pete ielo and his dad have been farm willing for 40 years based in northern california but lately they've had a growing problem. >> we're leaving some crop behind. we're not able to keep up with harvest. >> they don't have enough workers to harvest their crops. they're not alone. across the country farmers are facing a labor shortage that some are calling a crisis. >> it's a financial burden. you have to make difficult decisions sometimes as far as having two fields to harvest but only being able to harvest one of them. >> partnership for a new american economy reports between 2002 and 2014 the number of full-time alchur workers has dropped by 146,000 people resulting in a loss of about $3 billion in crop production and the american farm bureau federation has come out with videos showing farmers forced to destroy crops or let them rot in the fields because they simply

don't have enough workers to pick them. >> last year i had to do something i've never done before. destroy ten acres of good squash. >> and now some farmers are worried the problem will get even worse if donald trump makes good on his campaign promise to deport undocumented workers. >> we are going to triple the number of i.c.e. deportation offices. >> more than half of the country's agriculture workers are undocumented according to the usda the american farm bureau immigration policy that focuses solely on enforcement could cost the the country $60 billion in agricultural production. >> we are at the point in the industry that we're either importing our labor or our food and farmers and ranchers across the america want to provide this to our consumers but we have to have access to a legal and stable workforce to get that done. >> it calls the current immigration system broken. he says he's watching and waiting to see if trump can fix

it. >> we need to come up with a system that works first and then secure borders. >> on the solution side the american farm bureau says the current guest worker program is full of bureaucratic challenges and delays. any effective immigration policy needs to reform that system. >> not only are farmers looking for workers but so is the us border patrol. in new mexico to show you why the agency is having a tough time finding recruits. >> if you're looking for a challenging career and have a desire to serve and protect, look to the nation borders. is actively recruiting. >> we're looking for men and women that have an innate set of core values, of honesty and integrity. >> the agency needs to bring on

1,700 new border control agents in the near future to help protect 6,000 miles of the country's land border and more than 300 ports of entry. however many job applicants don't make it pass the initial screening process. >> it's hard to get in. we expect a lot out of it you. for every 175 that apply one border gets hired. >> among the agencies others challenges in recruiting and retaining the job is dangerous and often requires agents to deal with haufrp terrain. >> and that can be a negative aspect for some folks but i think that the mission that we have outweighs that. >> new agents like 23-year-old attend the training academy in new mexico for roughly four months. their recruited from different backgrounds and prior law enforcement experience isn't necessary. for ramirez it's a chance to serve the country and continue the legacy of his older brother who died in the line of duty. >> i know that everywhere i am i

know my brother's foot steps are there. every time i come to a struggle or anything i think of them. >> trainees get full board and they're paid around $50,000 a year the training process is rigorous. i spent the day to find out what it takes to prepare for the dangers and complexities of becoming a border control agent. they learn the law and how to process legal and illegal documents. they learned spanish to be fluent by the time they graduate and train driving off-road to be whether for the southern borders harsh terrain. they get combat training. >> extend the right hand to the neck give it to him, harder, harder, harder, now throw him, now throw him. >> and half to be ready to fight in the dark. >> good, good. step back. >> water safety is also a must. including climbing jacob's ladder, dangling 25 feet in the

air and being ready to take the plunge. for "nightly business report" i'm kate rogers is new mexico. >> coming up small business owners drive job creation and there's one entrepreneur who's helping his peers hire even more. >> here is a look at what to

watch this week. a lot of dow components report earnings. these are really critical numbers coming out including united health care, ibm, american express and ge. and anti doetal of interesting look across the economy across the country. on friday donald trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the united states and that is what to watch this week. >> small businesses are really the backbone of the economy and they often drive job creation. all of their ventures start with a bright idea and are often built around and entrepreneur's own skill. take military vet chris nolte francis. he came home from the middle east with a debilitating back injury. his desire to get active and get back in shape along with his multi-tasking and problem solving skills helped him find electric bicycles and now as bill griffith tells us, he's

staking a claim in this niche but fast growing market. >> before he found electric bikes, back pain limited his ability to exercise, to work indeed to live life. he hurt his back while serving in the military. >> i grew up very quickly in the military. i went in at 19 years old. >> in 2000 nol ty joined the army reserve. a truck landed in a ditch in cue wait only days before the start of the iraq war in 2003 and despite hurting his back, nolty stald on four more months before coming home. >> i was very concerned when i returned about what my futures going to look like. >> reporter: physical labor was not an option. by 2006 he was helping a family friend put his luggage sales business online. he was immersed in ecommerce

when in 2011 he discovered electric bikes online of course. he converted his own bike and got the bush he needed to get back on the road. >> i didn't need to where i was focused with my physical abilities and i just kept on learning. >> reporter: he learned that 180 million electric powered bikes and scooters are on the road in china. many use motorcycle-like tlot wills but pedal assists bikes are becoming more popular. the motor is engaged only when the rider pedals. the ceo recently said one out of three bikes sold in the netherlands is electric. more than germany one in every five new sales are ebikes it is barely more than one out of 100. sensing an opening, he began selling ebikes online in 2011. >> our first year we did about $50,000 in business and then we were pretty much trip willing for every year after that in

size. up until 2014 we hit a million dollars in sales. >> nolty says 2016 will be his third year in a row with sales of at least a million dollars. last year he opened a retail shop in brooklyn, new york, most of his bikes sell in the 2,500 to $4,000 range. baby boomers looking for help exercising or just getting around are natural customers. but nolty says millennials are buying in to. >> i don't have to deal with parking. i just pull it into my living room at night. >> tyler glass paid about $3,500 for an ebike that he uses to travel ten to 20 miles in new york city pretty much every day. >> i fell in love the second i rode one. >> reporter: for the business to thrive, nolty knows the american mind set will have to embrace the idea of using bikes for transportation not just for recreation and exercise. >> we're building something for the future as bike infrastructure improves.

>> reporter: new york city which is become more bike friendly is the only city in new york state where pedal assisted bikes are street legal. across the country regulations ary but nolty ever the transportation specialist is confident that that will change. >> i don't see it as a small percentage of the of the bike market overall i see the percentage of just people that need to move and really that's what our tag line is changing the way we move. >> reporter: for "nightly business report" i'm bill griffith. >> bike sales in europe have been flat for more than a decade except when it comes to electric bikes. he believes there will be a of opportunity to scale up if laws pertaining to electric bikes become more uniform across this country. >> entrepreneurs can come from anywhere and do basically anything but you might wonder what an electrician knows about running a company some some know quite a bit, others not so much. that's why a new jersey electrician who once said there's got to be a better way

and figured it out got the bright idea to share his knowledge for a price of course. the way he sees it he's helping others create more jobs than he could ever create on his own. >> that's a big deal. >> he can get a charge out of people and no wonder, at age 19 he became a full-time electrician, three years later he and a partner started gold medal electrical contracting in central new jersey. they work long hours, did everything themselves but like so many small business owners they did little else. >> we got so burnt out that my partner came to me one morning and he said, i'm, mike i'm done. >> reporter: in 2004 after 11 years it was either unplug the business or find a better way so they invested heavily to learn how to actually run a series business. >> we spent over $800,000 on training the very best we could find.

>> reporter: they started reading. they went to disney to learn about corporate culture, zappo's to -- >> the simplest of tweets helped to turn their business and lives around. >> i did some study, yellow is the first color the eye sees so let's have yellow trucks, nobody had yellow trucks out there and people were telling us, i see you everywhere. i was like, every? we had three trucks. okay. we're on to something big right now. >> very big. in a few years gold medal adding plumbing and heating now with 145 trucks and 190 employees gold metal is on track to hit $32 million in sales this year. he's only in the office about two or three times a week now but he's still busy because other service company owners started asking how he did it. that's when he realized his knowledge, his experience might

be more valuable to them than it is to him. >> nobody's really stepping in and serving these people. why don't we go out there and let's just change lives for anybody in any type of service business. >> it was a germ of what would be become a multi-million dollar idea. phone calls and facebook posts grew into a full blown consulting business in 2013. one year in, another marketing change, a new name for the consult answer si ceo warrior. annual sales he more than $3 million. >> eric corbett became a warrior three years ago. he was about to buy his brother out and take over the maryland plumbing business their father started in 1960. he signed up for a four day warrior event. >> we were pretty average at that point and we said you know what? we don't want to be average. >> five times a year he hosts these events drawing 100 or so service oriented companies that

pay about $7,500 each. he upgraded to the war i can't remember fast track that cost $36,000 but gets you full time access to his business improvement team, first hand looks inside gold medal even a taste of martial arts. they're about 95 fast trackers like corbett in three years his business has grown from 22 employees to 30 revenues are up from less than 4 million a year to more than 4 and a half. >> we're really healthy as a company and we're positioned to have some really great growth here moving forward. >> that's the kind of rewiring mike likes. >> why do i exist on this planet and it's not to be an electrician? it was never to be that. i knew there was a big part in it and this is the bigger why for me to change lives. >> he has also written four books and he's beginning to invest in commercial real estate following the advice he found

himself giving to other ceos to manage and protect their wealth by dwersifying their business interests. >> good for him. >> cool start. >> thank you so much for watching this edition of "nightly business report." i'm sue herera. >> and i'm tyler mathisen have a great evening everybody. we'll see you back here tomorrow.

>> this is "bbc world news america." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation. newman's own foundation, giving all profits from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good. kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and aruba tourism authority. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. you can find it here in aruba. families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm, sunny days, cooling trade winds, and the