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Sunday, September 16, 2012

Household Income Dropped To Its Lowest Point Since 1995


In the aftermath of the Great Recession, household income dropped once again in 2011 while the poverty level stayed flat after three straight years of increases, the Census Bureau said Wednesday.

Median household incomes adjusted for inflation fell 1.5 percent to $50,054.

That’s 8.1 percent lower than it had been in 2007, the year before the recession, and almost 9 percent lower than the peak income level reached in 1999.

The last time median household income was lower was 1995 – meaning it’s been a lost decade and a half for Americans looking to get ahead.

The gross domestic product has gone from $7.4 trillion to $15.1 trillion in current-dollar terms over that time, suggesting that families have fallen behind even as the economy has expanded.

The poverty rate last year dipped from 15.1 percent to 15 percent, a statistically insignificant change, as the number of people living in poverty stayed at 46.2 million, including 16.1 million children. Census Bureau officials suggested that workers shifting from part-time to full-time work as the employment picture improved may have helped keep the poverty level stable. Expanded unemployment benefits also helped.


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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welfare is the hot thing!

Anonymous said...

There they go again, trying to tell that the "great recession" is over. Where did they get such an idiotic notion?? From what I observe, it is just getting worse, especially the inflation part of it. Somebody is blowing smoke up our.....

Anonymous said...

301; the great recession is gone. It has turned into the great depression, but that name was already taken, and nobody wants to say the "greater depression" word, so they think if they do something like "we have nothing to fear but fear itself" is going to work again. It's not. We are in a s-hole. period. A depressiion is a depressio n no matter if you wish to call it a rose....

Anonymous said...

I know one thing, my bank account has regressed in this recession and I am depressed by the depression. If we re-elect the current president they are going to have to guard against people jumping off bridges. Maybe I can get a job taking tickets to go jump.