In an essay, entitled “Making It in America,” in the latest issue of The Atlantic, the author Adam Davidson relates a joke from cotton country about just how much a modern textile mill has been automated: The average mill has only two employees today, “a man and a dog. The man is there to feed the dog, and the dog is there to keep the man away from the machines.” 
 
 Davidson’s article is one of a number of pieces that have recently appeared making the point that the reason we have such stubbornly high unemployment and sagging middle-class incomes today is largely because of the big drop in demand because of the Great Recession, but it is also because of the quantum advances in both globalization and the information technology revolution, which are more rapidly than ever replacing labor with machines or foreign workers. 
 
 In the past, workers with average skills, doing an average job, could earn an average lifestyle. But, today, average is officially over. Being average just won’t earn you what it used to. It can’t when so many more employers have so much more access to so much more above average cheap foreign labor, cheap robotics, cheap software, cheap automation and cheap genius. Therefore, everyone needs to find their extra — their unique value contribution that makes them stand out in whatever is their field of employment. Average is over. 
 
 Yes, new technology has been eating jobs forever, and always will. As they say, if horses could have voted, there never would have been cars. But there’s been an acceleration. As Davidson notes, “In the 10 years ending in 2009, [U.S.] factories shed workers so fast that they erased almost all the gains of the previous 70 years; roughly one out of every three manufacturing jobs — about 6 million in total — disappeared.” 
 
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 And you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Last April, Annie Lowrey of Slate wrote about a start-up called “E la Carte” that is out to shrink the need for waiters and waitresses: The company “has produced a kind of souped-up iPad that lets you order and pay right at your table. The brainchild of a bunch of M.I.T. engineers, the nifty invention, known as the Presto, might be found at a restaurant near you soon. ... You select what you want to eat and add items to a cart. Depending on the restaurant’s preferences, the console could show you nutritional information, ingredients lists and photographs. You can make special requests, like ‘dressing on the side’ or ‘quintuple bacon.’ When you’re done, the order zings over to the kitchen, and the Presto tells you how long it will take for your items to come out. ... Bored with your companions? Play games on the machine. When you’re through with your meal, you pay on the console, splitting the bill item by item if you wish and paying however you want. And you can have your receipt e-mailed to you. ... Each console goes for $100 per month. If a restaurant serves meals eight hours a day, seven days a week, it works out to 42 cents per hour per table — making the Presto cheaper than even the very cheapest waiter.” 
 
 Advertisement Continue reading the main story ||||| The U.S. economy is constantly evolving. So, too, is the U.S. job market. Some occupations that were once high paying and relatively stable are now fading from the economic landscape, while others jobs that are now in high demand practically did not exist 50 years ago. 
 
 Identifying the best and worst jobs for an individual is inherently subjective as people can have a wide range of interests and abilities. However, by accounting for certain objective factors, such as pay and job security, certain jobs stand out as better than others. 
 
 Job database website CareerCast provided 24/7 Wall St. with its 2017 list of the 10 worst and 10 best jobs in the country. 
 
 Click here to see the best jobs in America. 
 
 Click here to see the worst jobs in America. 
 
 According to the report released today, a statistician — a relatively high-paying occupation with rapid employment growth — is the best job in the country. Meanwhile, a newspaper reporter — a relatively low-paying occupation with declining employment — is the worst job in the country. 
 
 Many of the worst jobs in the country are low paying. Of the 10 worst jobs, seven have a lower median income than the $37,040 annual median income for all occupations. Many of the worst jobs are also disappearing. 
 
 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment across all professions is projected to increase by 7% between 2014 and 2024. Of the worst jobs, taxi driver is the only profession with greater than average projected employment growth, while the BLS projects total employment to contract in five. 
 
 Some of the worst jobs are also dangerous. Military service members are expected to work in life-threatening situations; pest control workers often work with poisonous chemicals; and loggers, the third worst job in the country, also have the highest fatality rate of any profession. 
 
 On the other side of the equation, the best jobs tend to be both high paying and in demand. All of them have higher than average projected growth and high median annual income. 
 
 Of the 10 best jobs, four require advanced math skills and three are in medical care. Growth in these areas in the coming years will be driven by industries becoming more computer-based and data-driven, and an aging baby boomer population. 
 
 To determine the best and worst jobs in the country, 24/7 Wall St. analyzed data from CareerCast’s “The Best Jobs of 2017” and “The Worst Jobs of 2017” reports. CareerCast provided the top and bottom 10 jobs, as well as the annual median salary and projected growth outlook from 2014 to 2024 for these professions. CareerCast’s rankings are based on four criteria: environment, income, outlook, and stress. A complete breakdown of CareerCast’s methodology may be found at this link. 
 
 Employment figures for all occupations other than enlisted military personnel came from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and are as of May 2016. The total number of enlisted military personnel came from the Defense Manpower Data Center of the Office of the Secretary of Defense and includes Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard and is for February 2017.
– Once upon a time, an average worker with average skills could expect an average lifestyle in America—but not anymore. "Today, average is officially over," writes Thomas Friedman of the New York Times. Average people can't expect the lifestyle they used to enjoy, because "employers have so much more access to so much more above average cheap foreign labor, cheap robotics, cheap software, cheap automation, and cheap genius." The chief culprits, of course, are globalization—which allows companies like Apple to produce iPods more efficiently overseas—and technology, which always has and always will eliminate jobs. Consider for instance this Slate piece about an iPad-like device that threatens to destroy even a usually reliable service position like waiters. So how can we respond to the trend? Bolster education. Whatever change comes, "one thing we know for sure," Friedman argues, is that "the best jobs will require workers to … make themselves above average."