U.S. middle-class incomes reached highest-ever level in 2016, Census Bureau says

[Mileage Psycho]

Thanks Barack!!

Quote

 

U.S. middle-class incomes reached highest-ever level in 2016, Census Bureau says

The incomes of middle-class Americans rose last year to the highest level ever recorded by the Census Bureau, as poverty declined and the scars of the past decade’s Great Recession seemed to finally fade.

Median household income rose to $59,039 in 2016, a 3.2 percent increase from the previous year and the second consecutive year of healthy gains, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. The nation’s poverty rate fell to 12.7 percent, returning nearly to what it was in 2007 before a financial crisis and deep recession walloped workers in ways that were still felt years later.

The new data, along with another census report showing the rate of Americans lacking health insurance to be at its lowest ever last year, suggest that Americans were actually in a position of increasing financial strength as President Trump, who tapped into anger about the economy, took office this year.

Yet the census report also points to the sources of deeper anxieties among American workers and underscores threats to continued economic progress.

Middle-class households are only now seeing their income eclipse 1999 levels.

Inequality remains high, with the top fifth of earners taking home more than half of all overall income, a record. And yawning racial disparities remain, with the median African American household earning only $39,490, compared with more than $65,000 for whites and over $81,000 for Asians.

Economists and policy experts wonder whether the gains will continue. The median income had surged since 2014 because millions more Americans found full-time jobs, but there is little evidence that employers are rushing to offer raises to those who already are employed. Without more wage gains, momentum could slow.

Meanwhile, the rate of people without health insurance declined only slightly last year, to 8.8 percent, the Census Bureau said.

The Trump administration is widely expected to cut back on programs that promote enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, meaning that the ranks of the 28.1 million uninsured Americans might grow.

“There’s a danger that this is as good as it gets,” said Peter Atwater, president of Financial Insyghts. “We are already at a 16-year low in unemployment. The likelihood of significant job growth from here is limited.”

Trump promised that a combination of tax cuts, infrastructure investment packages, renegotiated trade deals and the repeal of Obama administration regulations would deliver a burst of job creation and attendant economic growth.

So far, no such boom can be found.

In Trump’s first seven months, the U.S. economy has added about 25,000 fewer jobs per month than it did during the last seven months of Barack Obama’s presidency. In a more positive sign, the gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 3 percent in the second quarter of 2017, according to a federal report issued in late August.

Much of Trump’s agenda remains pending, however, either awaiting action by his administration or bogged down in Congress. And while most economists think it is too early in Trump’s term for his administration to have a measurable effect on the economy, there are real doubts about whether he will be able to enact his agenda, particularly after his health-care effort died in the Senate. Both his tax reform and infrastructure efforts face significant hurdles in Congress.

“Where is the extra progress going to come from? You have growing uncertainty that Washington will be able to create any sort of tax relief or infrastructure plan,” Atwater said.

For now, though, the economy is returning to pre-recession levels, as indicated by several benchmarks. The national unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in August, just about the same as pre-recession levels. And in July, U.S. employers had generated enough jobs to restore national employment to where it stood before the recession started in 2007, even after accounting for population growth in the intervening decade.

The household earnings are welcome news for the middle class, which, after leaps forward in the 1990s, struggled amid the slow overall growth of the early 2000s and was devastated by the recession.

The income increase extended to almost every demographic group, Census Bureau officials said. The figure the agency reported Tuesday was the highest on record. The agency reports that in 1999, median household income, adjusted for inflation, was $58,655. Agency officials cautioned that the bureau changed its methodology in 2014, complicating an exact historical comparison.

Julian West, of Phoenix, is one of the many Americans whose lives improved dramatically last year.

For much of the recovery, he could find only “dead-end” minimum-wage jobs at carwashes and discount stores.

“I was really struggling,” said West, 44, who was forced to move back in with his parents.

In 2016, he went to a temp agency in Phoenix and landed a job that paid $18 an hour. It did not last, but the recruiter called again and moved him to the job he has now at BB&T Bank monitoring car-loan payments and repossessions. The job pays $16 an hour, with ample opportunity for overtime pay, he said.

“I’m slowly saving and paying off bills,” West told The Washington Post. He recently moved into a small studio apartment, now that he’s earning $35,000 a year. “I’ll be middle class again if I keep my spending to bare bones.”

West credits Obama with bringing the economy back. He did not vote for Trump, but he hopes someone with the business experience of the president can help the working poor.

Many Americans are optimistic, as West is, that their fortunes will continue to improve. A Gallup poll released Tuesday found that 64 percent of Americans think their “standard of living” is improving, the highest percentage since the financial crisis, while only 19 percent feel their standard of living is declining.

“Today’s census report is unambiguously good news: on income, on poverty and on health insurance,” said Bob Greenstein, the founder and president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank. “The goal should be to continue this progress.”

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-middle-class-incomes-reached-highest-ever-level-in-2016-census-bureau-says/ar-AArQkRY

 

 

 

 

[The Rocket]

Amazing.  

I remember all the neo-con nutjobs ranting against the auto bailouts, TARP, stimulus spending, QE etc etc etc. 

Same clowns that now complain the pace of the recovery has been to slow.  

Edited September 13, 2017 by The Rocket

[NaturallyAspirated]

3 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Amazing.  

I remember all the new-con nutjobs ranting against the auto bailouts, TARP, stimulus spending, QE etc etc etc. 

Same clowns that now complain the pace of the recovery has been to slow.  

Obama wasn't so horrible after all is another nail in their coffin.

Neal

[The Rocket]

Just now, NaturallyAspirated said:

Obama wasn't so horrible after all is another nail in their coffin.

Neal

The guy was a rock star and excellent manager of the office of the president compared to the current baboon it would seem. 

[hayward]

cyclical

[The Rocket]

1 minute ago, hayward said:

cyclical

  So the "Great Recession" was just a normal cycle eh?  

No need for the extraordinary monetary and fiscal policy actions taken?  

[racer254]

And in the next media hyped article about minimum wage, you will hear about the income disparity in the US is the greatest ever.  Nitwits are being manipulated daily.

Edited September 13, 2017 by racer254

[The Rocket]

6 minutes ago, racer254 said:

And in the next media hyped article about minimum wage, you will hear about the income disparity in the US is the greatest ever.  Nitwits are being manipulated daily.

Why can't both be true?  They aren't mutually exclusive. 

[NaturallyAspirated]

1 hour ago, The Rocket said:

Why can't both be true?  They aren't mutually exclusive. 

Some people just ain't good with numbers...

Neal

[ActionfigureJoe]

2 hours ago, The Rocket said:

The guy was a rock star and excellent manager of the office of the president compared to the current baboon it would seem. 

it takes either an american who's in touch with reality or an individual from outside america to see the truth. 

[Anler]

Would have been higher if the pubes didnt try so hard to tank the economy. 

[Mileage Psycho]

2 hours ago, The Rocket said:

The guy was a rock star and excellent manager of the office of the president compared to the current baboon it would seem. 

 

2 hours ago, The Rocket said:

  So the "Great Recession" was just a normal cycle eh?  

No need for the extraordinary monetary and fiscal policy actions taken?  

You would have better luck pissing up a rope than trying to talk sense to some of these lunkheads   

[Zambroski]

Thanks Obama.

"Percentages".

[f7ben]

In spite of , not because of

[racer254]

All I see it a well written op ed designed to paint Obama in a good light, keep the income jealousy between the wealthy and poor going, as well as the racial income disparity.  All the while touting how Trump is doing nothing.  Hello Sheep.

 

Edited September 13, 2017 by racer254

[Anler]

1 minute ago, f7ben said:

In spite of , not because of

So you think another 8 years of dubya would have netted us the same results? The economy struggled under dubya and his multiple stimuluses. It wasnt until they opened up lending to anyone with a heartbeat that things picked up. And quickly fell apart. Thats what happens when you put a retard in charge of the largest economy in the world. 

[Mileage Psycho]

3 minutes ago, racer254 said:

All I see it a well written op ed designed to paint Obama in a good light, keep the income jealousy between the wealthy and poor going, as well as the racial income disparity.  All the while touting how Trump is doing nothing.  Hello Sheep.

 

It's actual data you dimwit, I know that frightens you   

Quote

 

Median household income rose to $59,039 in 2016, a 3.2 percent increase from the previous year and the second consecutive year of healthy gains, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. The nation’s poverty rate fell to 12.7 percent, returning nearly to what it was in 2007 before a financial crisis and deep recession walloped workers in ways that were still felt years later.

The new data, along with another census report showing the rate of Americans lacking health insurance to be at its lowest ever last year, suggest that Americans were actually in a position of increasing financial strength as President Trump, who tapped into anger about the economy, took office this year.

 

 

[f7ben]

6 minutes ago, Anler said:

So you think another 8 years of dubya would have netted us the same results? The economy struggled under dubya and his multiple stimuluses. It wasnt until they opened up lending to anyone with a heartbeat that things picked up. And quickly fell apart. Thats what happens when you put a retard in charge of the largest economy in the world. 

No , dubya was shit ....Obama was not the solution hence the 8 years of stagnant results. Given the massive wealth gap and wage stagnation it doesnt take much to set a record for middle class wealth although it is far far behind where it should be. Simple

[Anler]

Just now, f7ben said:

No , dubya was shit ....Obama was not the solution hence the 8 years of stagnant results. Given the massive wealth gap and wage stagnation it doesnt take much to set a record for middle class wealth although it is far far behind where it should be. Simple

No, Obama didnt give us utopia but he didnt burn the place down either and we had stability. No president is going to radically change anything. Look how much Trump has made good on so far.  

[Zambroski]

Just now, f7ben said:

No , dubya was shit ....Obama was not the solution hence the 8 years of stagnant results. Given the massive wealth gap and wage stagnation it doesnt take much to set a record for middle class wealth although it is far far behind where it should be. Simple

Yep...well with the "dubya" comment exception.  Fact is, the economy would have grown faster under that oaf because he wouldn't have stood in the way like Obama's admin did with massive over regulations.  Not to mention, consumer and business confidence would have regained momentum much quicker adding to it.

[Mileage Psycho]

1 minute ago, Zambroski said:

Yep...well with the "dubya" comment exception.  Fact is, the economy would have grown faster under that oaf because he wouldn't have stood in the way like Obama's admin did with massive over regulations.  Not to mention, consumer and business confidence would have regained momentum much quicker adding to it.

The economy as seen from a bed in Duluth  

[racer254]

12 minutes ago, Mileage Psycho said:

It's actual data you dimwit, I know that frightens you   

 

Why the left leaning slant?  Dimwits can't just have facts in their stories without some type of political bias.  Thanks MSN

Here is the unbiased version.

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2017/income-povery.html

Edited September 13, 2017 by racer254

[Zambroski]

Just now, Mileage Psycho said:

The economy as seen from a bed in Duluth  

How did you know I was in my bed?  That's weird.  And don't say it was just a guess.  I knew I heard italion music from the street the other day...and that might explain the marinara stain on my pillow.  

 

[Angry ginger]

44 minutes ago, ActionfigureJoe said:

it takes either an american who's in touch with reality or an individual from outside america to see the truth. 

how about some credit for the amazing job the pubs did in congress during his term to blunt his ability to make bad decisions   

[Mileage Psycho]

32 minutes ago, Zambroski said:

How did you know I was in my bed?  That's weird.  And don't say it was just a guess.  I knew I heard italion music from the street the other day...and that might explain the marinara stain on my pillow.  

 

Trump told me