USA Today reports that US median household income rose by 1.1% in 2005, but earnings fell for full-time workers. That means American families are working more lower paying jobs. Additionally, household income for Blacks declined slightly so African Americans as a group now earn 34% less than the national average. This puts Black income at just over three-fifths of the median for American households.

“It tells us the economy is still not generating the higher-paying jobs we’d like to see,” says Douglas Besharov of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington. He says some of the earnings decline reflects demographic changes found in an aging population: older workers cutting back on hours and more women entering the workforce as their children grow up.

The poverty rate declined by a statistically insignificant tenth of a percent. 37 million Americans make $19,971 or less for a family of four, though certainly those families that earn $20,000 would still consider themselves impoverished…

According to USA Today, half of American households earned more and the other half earned less. These statistics reveal that the so-called “growing” economy isn’t improving the lives of American families.

University of Notre Dame economist David Betson says the long-term income trend is worrisome because while the economy is more productive, the higher wages that usually follow have not occurred. “It’s not good news for the American worker,” Betson says. “We keep saying you’ll get yours in the future, but at some point, that future is supposed to arrive.”

Right. The economy is more productive because most Americans are working longer hours and multiple jobs for less pay, while some corporations are reaping record profits. Meanwhile, the quality of life for American workers deteriorates.

You’ve gotta love those business friendly government policies. Supply-side economics (aka “trickle-down” economics) didn’t work 20 years ago, and it isn’t working now.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 30th, 2006 at 3:54 pm and is filed under Business and Economics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.