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You aren’t just imagining it: Your paycheck didn’t go as far last year as it did the year before — or the year before that. Inflation surges outpaced the average pay raises of US workers in 2022 — the third consecutive year under President Joe Biden in which Americans have seen their standard of living take a tumble, according to fresh data from the US Census Bureau. Inflation-adjusted median household income fell to $74,580 in 2022 — a 2.3% decline from the 2021 average of $76,330, the federal agency reported on Tuesday. The result has caused many cash-strapped New Yorkers...

Family incomes dropped by about $2,000 last year on average, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated on Tuesday. Median family income has dropped every year since 2019, adjusted for inflation. The figure stood at $74,580 as of 2022, according to Census data, a 2.3 percent drop from 2021 levels. The change may reflect rising inflation, which has cooled in recent months but nonetheless hurt families’ bottom lines. Last summer saw inflation hit a forty-year high. Inflation slowed to 3.2 percent in July, down from over 9 percent a year before.

Median household income fell by 2.3% in 2022 on an inflation-adjusted basis, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. The report, which is released on an annual basis and is taken from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement, shows real median incomes falling for the third year in a row. Median household incomes peaked at $78,250 in 2019, the year before the pandemic. They declined in 2022 to $74,580, a year that saw inflation soar, undercutting household purchasing power. "Despite nominal gains, historically high inflation resulted in a decline in real median household income," said Liana Fox,...

Following today's release of the latest Personal Income and Spending data, Wall Street was predictably focused on the changes in these two key series, which showed a surge in personal income (to be expected in the month when the $900BN December 2020 stimulus hit), coupled with a far more modest increase in personal spending.But while the change in the headline data was notable, what was far more remarkable was data showing just how reliant on the US government the population has become.We are referring, of course, to Personal Current Transfer payments which are essentially government sourced income such as unemployment...

The amazing strength of the data in that report show what the American economy, and American workers, can achieve—if given the right policy environment and opportunities. Based on a Census Bureau report released last Tuesday, the current debate over economic policy might come down to a question of numbers. Which would you prefer: A $1,200 “stimulus” check while not working during lockdowns, or a nearly $4,400 pay increase in a growing job?The Census report, which chronicled changes in income and poverty in 2019, documented the state of the economy well before the coronavirus hit. But the amazing strength of the...

or eight years, President Obama endlessly talked about "middle class" economics. All the while, middle-class family incomes were stagnant. Now they are on the rise. Could Trumponomics be the reason? In April, real median household income reached $59,361, according to the latest report from Sentier Research. That's up 2% since January, and is as high as it's been since February 2002. Expressed as an index, median household income was 100.9 in April, which is the first time this index has topped 100 since December 2008.

Stock wealth climbed by $494 billion and housing by $554 billion The wealth of U.S. households climbed to a record $90.2 trillion in the third quarter, driven by a powerful buildup in both real estate and stocks. Stockholdings—both directly and through retirement accounts like 401(k)s—climbed by $494 billion last quarter while real estate, which is primarily people’s homes, rose in value by $554 billion, according to a Federal Reserve report released Thursday. The report shows that U.S....

Some 63% of people can't deal with a $500 emergency. Americans are starting 2016 with more job security, but most are still theoretically only one paycheck away from the street. Approximately 63% of Americans have no emergency savings for things such as a $1,000 emergency room visit or a $500 car repair, according to a survey released Wednesday of 1,000 adults by personal finance website Bankrate.com, up slightly from 62% last year. Faced with an emergency, they say they would raise the money by reducing spending elsewhere (23%), borrowing from family and/or friends (15%) or using credit cards to bridge...

RUSH: You know, there's unemployment news today. And I want to it read this to you. This is from the Zero Hedge website, which we quote frequently on this program. The headline: "Initial Jobless Claims Plunge to 42-Year Lows, Despite Surging Job Cuts." Now, that doesn't make any sense. The number of people filing unemployment claims is at a 42-year low? Sorry. No, there has to be something else to make that true. That just can't be. Then the second part of headline: "despite surging job cuts," meaning layoffs are happening all over this country. People are losing their jobs...

Back in January, President Obama was boasting that the economy had finally turned a corner. [snip] The latest income data, however, don't show anything like what Obama was describing.

It is clear that the economic realities falling upon the masses in America are driving us towards a crisis point. Even with substantial government subsidies, the bottom 10% of Americans are beyond struggling, spending more than 60% of their meager incomes on the bare essentials. According to the latest official numbers, the poorest in the United States are spending 42% of their income on housing and another 17% on food, statistics that are unsustainable for individuals and families. The Wall Street Journal reported: For many Americans, the rise in food and housing prices is a tough squeeze. That’s because—even in...

It has been a tough recovery for Americans, particularly for the middle class. In fact, feeble. Median household income is down 4.4% since the end of the recession in June 2009. medincusa Initial jobless claims rose to 336,000 in the most recent reading. And is above the level when interest rates started rising on May 1st. ijct10 Unemployment in the 16-19 year old segment is a Greek-like 23.70%, putting a crimp in the savings ability of America’s youth. un1619082213 And Gallup’s unemployment survey has skyrocketed. 20130822_unemp_0 And the American Healthcare Act imposes a massive increase in healthcare costs on young...

Sequestration, the measly slowdown in the growth rate of government spending, was President Obama and his Chief of Staff (now Treasury Secretary) Jacob Lew’s idea. Now President Obama has signed it into law. Today, I received an email from The White House explaining that it is all the Republicans fault for not closing tax loopholes on the wealthiest Americans. Furthermore, hundred of thousands of Americans will lose their jobs … or see their paycheck reduced. Dang, I wish Obama had thought of that in the first place!! Well, this is a better forecast that Maxine Waters’ (D-CA) prediction of 170...

Americans saw their income drop so dramatically in January that it marked the deepest one-month decline in 20 years. - Personal income decreased by $505.5 billion in January, or 3.6%, compared to December (on a seasonally adjusted and annualized basis). That's the most dramatic decline since January 1993, according to the Commerce Department. It's something of a combination of one-time events, though. Monthly income was unusually high in December because companies paid out early dividends to avoid upcoming tax hikes. Companies like Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500), and Costco Wholesale Corp paid special dividends to their shareholders...

Today’s economic report has good and bad news, and both are tempered by the effects of government intervention.  The Commerce Department reports that personal income dropped 3.6% in January, the worst such monthly decline in exactly 20 years, but that consumer spending seems unaffected: Personal income decreased $505.5 billion, or 3.6 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) decreased $491.4 billion, or 4.0 percent, in January, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $18.2 billion, or 0.2 percent. In December, personal income increased $353.4 billion, or 2.6 percent, DPI increased $325.7 billion, or 2.7 percent, and...

On January 1 your payroll taxes went up a couple of percentage points. That caused household income to drop like a stone, the sharpest drop in 20 years. Income dropped 3.6 percent, hitting its lowest level in more than five years. By the way, gas prices are inching back up too. The average American family’s income is going backwards, while the federal government continues to grow and grow and grow. Yet, as congressional leaders and the president meet at the White House today, President Obama will badger Republicans for even more tax increases as part of a deal to avoid...

The median net worth of American households has dropped to a 43-year low as the lower and middle classes appear poorer and less stable than they have been since 1969. According to a recent study by New York University economics professor Edward N. Wolff, median net worth is at the decades-low figure of $57,000 (in 2010 dollars). And as the numbers in his study reflect, the situation only appears worse when all the statistics are taken as a whole. According to Wolff, between 1983 and 2010, the percentage of households with less than $10,000 in assets (using constant 1995 dollars)...

Mitt Romney has been citing an interesting economic statistic lately about the economy under Barack Obama: “Well, let’s look at what happened. What you’re not going to hear is that during his term median income in America has dropped by $3,000.” Here he is on “Hannity,” repeating the same number. That’s a pretty striking figure. Is it true? The answer depends somewhat on what numbers you use — there are more and less charitable options available — but the answer is arguably yes.

Millions of dollars worth of federal contracts transformed Anita Talwar from a government accounting clerk into a wealthy woman — one who can afford a $2.8 million home in the Washington suburbs with its own elevator, wine cellar and Swarovski crystal chandeliers. Talwar, a 59-year-old immigrant from India, had no idea that she and her husband would amass a small fortune when she launched a company providing tech support to the federal government in 1987. But she shrewdly took advantage of programs for minority-owned small businesses and rode a boom in federal contracting. Talwar’s success — and that of hundreds...

Household incomes shrank for the second year in a row in 2009, as the recession eroded the share of American families earning over $100,000 and swelled the ranks of people who are poor or just barely making it, according to census statistics released Tuesday. The income estimates from the American Community Survey, a wide array of census statistics reported annually, underscore the devastation the recession has caused to millions of American households and families. In the Washington area, however, the outlook was far less grim. Although the census said median household incomes dropped in virtually all regional jurisdictions, the share...