Yesterday saw the release of “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States, 2010″ (pdf) from the U.S. Census Bureau. Real Median Household Income was $49,445 in 2010, as seen on page 5. On page 14, the Poverty Rate is seen at 15.1%, encompassing 46.2 million people.
As seen on the chart on page 8, Real Median Household Income has experienced anemic growth for decades. In 1967 it was roughly $40,000 in real terms.
As stated in a Wall Street Journal article from today, titled “Income Slides to 1996 levels” :
The income of the typical American family—long the envy of much of the world—has dropped for the third year in a row and is now roughly where it was in 1996 when adjusted for inflation.
The income of a household considered to be at the statistical middle fell 2.3% to an inflation-adjusted $49,445 in 2010, which is 7.1% below its 1999 peak, the Census Bureau said.
As for the Poverty figures, this measure has been widely criticized. However, even if one uses the as-stated figures, it is obviously substantial.
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The Special Note summarizes my overall thoughts about our economic situation
SPX at 1177.00 as this post is written