The economy is sending mixed messages.

On one hand, the unemployment rate continues to fall and wages have begun to tick up. But growth has been slow, with the economy limping along at a growth rate around 1 percent.

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Similarly, a new study from CareerBuilder shows that, despite anticipated job growth in the coming years, a number of key middle-class occupations are expected to decline, potentially putting a pinch on wide swaths of U.S. workers.

For the purpose of the study, CareerBuilder classified jobs that paid less than $13.83 an hour as low wage, jobs that paid above that level and below $21.13 as middle wage, and jobs that paid above that level as high wage.

It's worth noting that "high wage" is clearly not the same thing as high income. A person making $21 an hour only makes $43,630 a year.

The study found that both high-wage jobs and low-wage positions will increase by roughly 5 percent over the next five years. But middle-wage occupations will increase by only 3 percent.

All of the wage categories displayed evidence of the growing role of health care and tech jobs in the 21st century economy, as well as the decline of jobs that are being gradually replaced by web-based services.

High-wage occupations that are expected to grow significantly over the next five years, between 9 and 11 percent:

  • Software developers.

  • Registered nurses.

  • Computer systems analysts.

  • Market research analysts.

  • Management analysts.

Some high-wage jobs that will decline:

  • Mail carriers.

  • Reporters.

  • Construction managers.

  • Real estate agents.

Three of those jobs have been hit hard by the internet. In the case of mail carriers and real estate agents, a growing number of people are simply forgoing their service. People continue to consume news, but the news industry has not been able to profit online as well as it did in print, largely because of tougher competition for advertisers.

Middle-wage jobs that are on the way up:

  • Medical assistants.

  • Customer service reps.

  • Truck drivers.

  • Office clerks.

The middle-wage jobs that are declining include these:

  • Travel agents.

  • Farmers.

  • Ranchers.

  • Printing press operators.

  • Accountants.

  • Carpenters.

Finally, low-wage jobs that will see increases include these:

  • Home health aides.

  • Nursing assistants.

  • Restaurant cooks.

  • Janitors.

  • Security guards.

Jobs that will decline include door-to-door sales jobs, which are expected to drop by a whopping 18 percent, and sewing machine operators, which will decline by 14 percent. Fast food workers and bank tellers are also expected to decline slightly, by roughly 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

"The U.S. is facing a sustained trend of declining middle-wage employment that has serious implications not only for workers, but for the economy overall," said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder, in a statement. "If we can't find a way to re-skill and up-skill workers at scale, middle-wage workers will become increasingly susceptible to unemployment or will have to move into lower-paying roles that may not support them and their families. This can have a negative ripple effect on consumer spend, housing, investing and other key financial indicators."

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