US household incomes drop, poverty up: Report
US household incomes declined last year and the poverty rate slightly increased, a sign that the nation’s economic recovery since the 2007-2009 Great Recession has failed to benefit many Americans.
The inflation-adjusted median income of American households dropped to $53,660 last year from $54,462 in 2013, according to data released by the US Census Bureau on Wednesday.
"In 2014, real median household income was 6.5 percent lower than in 2007, the year before the most recent recession," Census researchers wrote.
At the same time, the poverty rate rose to 14.8 percent last year from 14.5 percent in 2013, the Census data showed. About 46.7 million Americans lived in poverty in 2014, the bureau said.
“Anyone wondering why people in this country are feeling so ornery need look no further than this report; wages have been broadly stagnant for a dozen years,” said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a pro-labor think tank in Washington.
US Representative Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin and chairman of the House of Representatives Budget Committee, said the government figures showed US poverty-reducing efforts were not working.
"This disappointing data, five years into an economic recovery, underscores the need for a new effort to modernize our country’s safety net programs," Ryan said in a statement.
A steady US economic recovery lowered the unemployment rate to 5.1 percent in August, the lowest since 2008, but income gains have lagged and about 6.5 million Americans work part time because they are unable to find a full-time job.
With the economy and unemployment among the top concerns of voters, the latest figures will likely fuel concerns as the US presidential candidates campaign for their parties' nominations ahead of the US presidential election in November 2016.
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