What's Wrong with the South?

The South is trapped in a vicious cycle of low-wage, low-skill jobs, says a report on the region by Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce (A Decade Behind: Breaking Out of the Low-Skill Trap in the Southern Economy). That's because the South lags in educational attainment, preventing the region from attracting high-skill, high-wage industries. The number-one job provider in the South is government. Number two is retail trade. Walmart is one of the top ten employers in 12 of the 15 states.