Middle-Class Income Hits All-Time High, Poverty Rate Falls
During President Donald Trump’s first year in office, the median household income — a measure of the economic health of middle-class families — rose to its highest point ever.
The poverty rate also moved in the right direction, falling during 2017, according to data released Tuesday.
According to the Census Bureau, the median income — that point in the middle of all household incomes — reached $61,372, according to CNBC. The median income was $60,309 in 2016. America’s poverty rate fell to 12.3 percent, down from 12.7 percent in 2016. For 2017, that rate was $30,750 for a family of four.
The numbers, along with low unemployment figures, are part of the reason Trump has emphasized that the American economy is back.
“The Economy is soooo good, perhaps the best in our country’s history (remember, it’s the economy stupid!), that the Democrats are flailing & lying like CRAZY! Phony books, articles and T.V. ‘hits’ like no other pol has had to endure-and they are losing big. Very dishonest people!” Trump tweeted Monday.
The Economy is soooo good, perhaps the best in our country’s history (remember, it’s the economy stupid!), that the Democrats are flailing & lying like CRAZY! Phony books, articles and T.V. “hits” like no other pol has had to endure-and they are losing big. Very dishonest people!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 10, 2018
In its reporting on the numbers, ABC News noted that the 2017 figure brings the median income roughly back to where it was in 2007, before the recession.
Median household income in the United States in 2017 was $61,372, an increase in real terms of 1.8% from 2016: https://t.co/4h7BgArJgb pic.twitter.com/Q7q7ZbAn4n
— U.S. Census Bureau (@uscensusbureau) September 12, 2018
The Census Bureau suggested that the numbers mean more Americans are working, and of those who are working, more are working full-time.
“We’re continuing to see that shift from part-time, part-year work to year-round, full-time work,” said Trudi Renwick, an assistant division chief at the Census Bureau.
Income levels differed among different races.
The median income figure rose 2.6 percent for white households to $68,145, and 3.7 percent for Hispanic households to $50,486. For Asian households, with a median income of $81,331, and black households, with a median figure $40,258, there was no change from 2016 to 2017, USA Today reported.
https://twitter.com/JeremyAdler/status/1039889793872801792
The figures emerged as St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said there is no question in his mind that Trump has helped the economy grow.
“I definitely think that the political change had an influence. I think that this is a pro-business administration that wanted to pursue strategies that were focused on economic growth,” he said, according to Reuters.
Bullard said he expects another year of “quite strong growth by the standards of the post-crisis era” and growth could hit 3 percent. He later said he thought 2 percent growth was a sustainable rate.
“As a policymaker I have to assess how much of that is coming through productivity increases that could be sustained going forward, and if I think that’s what’s happening, then I would revise up my potential growth rate,” he said.
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