On the surface, new data released by the U.S. Census at the end of August should inspire optimism: wages for working Americans increased, the number of people without health insurance decreased—the first such decrease since President Bush took office in 2001—and the poverty rate stayed essentially unchanged in 2007.
Closer investigation, however, shows that there are a number of causes for concern. First of all, the data do not reflect the economic downturn that worsened late last year and has seen jobs and wages cut, prices skyrocket and the housing market crumble. Rather, the data show that "economic performance was weak prior to the latest problems in the U.S. housing and credit markets and the rise in energy prices," according to the Center for American Progress, a research and advocacy organization.
While the median household income for working families increased in 2007 by 1.3 percent—or $665—to $50,233, according to the Census data. When adjusted for inflation, however, this is actually $1,100 lower than in 2001, the year of the last recession. The median household income is the number that half of U.S. households earn more than and half of U.S. households earn less than.
Median household incomes increased in the Midwest and the South, declined in the Northeast and remained statistically unchanged in the West, according to the Census data.
The median household income for blacks and for non-Hispanic whites increased from 2006 to 2007, the first such increase for these households since 1999. Asian and Hispanic households saw no statistically significant change in their median household income in that time period, according to the data.
"When the data become available for 2008, the picture will undoubtedly grow more grim," according to the Center for American Progress. "Average real weekly earnings are down 2.4 percent so far this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 2000 through 2008 period is shaping up to be a very weak economic period, during which incomes will almost certainly prove to have declined."
The number of uninsured Americans dropped from 15.8 percent in 2006 to 15.3 percent in 2007, although, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, "These figures call for interpretation and context. The downward track of uninsured may be due to more people seeking out government health care such as Medicare or coverage for children. Also, the total of 45.7 million uninsured is still higher than the 39.8 million without coverage when the Bush administration assumed power."
And while the poverty rate only inched up 0.02 percent to 12.5 percent, it still means that one in eight people in America are living in poverty. The poverty rate was just 11.3 percent as recently as 2000.
"From top to bottom, these are punishing numbers: a nation of great wealth with yawning economic disparities," according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The gap between the rich and the poor grew in 2007; the nation's top 1 percent of earners now take home 23 percent of all income, which is the largest gap since 1928, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Another notable disparity shrunk slightly. In 2007, women working full-time earned 78 percent of what men working full-time did, up from 77 percent in 2006. While still far from income parity, it reflects the smallest pay gap between genders in history.
