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BDiego Perez is working on a Toll Brothers house on August 21, 2018 in Boca Raton, Florida. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images).
Middle-class income reached a record high in 2017 as the strong economy revived the plight of Americans, the US census reported on Wednesday.
The median US household earned $ 61,372 last year, which means that half of the country's families reported more than that and half earned less.
Breaking the $ 61,000 mark was important because it meant that the American middle class was earning slightly more than in 1999, although the Census Bureau warns that the median income is still not "statistically significant" since the end of the 1990s. 1990s. All income figures have been adjusted for inflation and are presented in 2017 dollars.
Household income of the middle class has increased steadily in recent years as the economy has rebounded deep recession and millions of Americans have found jobs. The extra salary due to the fact that another person works from home is the most important factor contributing to the increase in income.
"We continue to see a shift from part-time to full-time work, so part of that could explain an increase in revenue," said Trudi Renwick, deputy division chief at the Census Bureau.
The Census Bureau also reported that the poverty rate in the United States had dropped slightly to 12.3%, the lowest level in years and a sign that the economic devastation caused by the Great Recession was dwindling.
But by other measures, the economy still does not work for everyone. The percentage of Americans without health insurance remained virtually unchanged from 2016 to 2017 – about 8.8% or 28.5 million people – despite the overall economic boom. This marks a stabilization in the decline in the number of Americans without insurance – a figure that has trended downward from 2010 to 2016, thanks in part to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
The number of Americans living in poverty has not changed dramatically compared to the previous year, the official poverty rate having declined slightly, from 12.7% in 2016 to 12 , 3% last year, according to the Census Bureau.
"It surprises me. I was expecting a better improvement in the economy, "said H. Luke Schaefer, of the University of Michigan. "It's something experts and policy makers should consider."
Economists have worried about why wage growth has been so slow lately, but Americans make up for it by working longer hours or having another family member find a job. Job offers hit a record high in July, the Labor Department reported this week, and there are now more jobs available than the unemployed.
The size of households can vary from single to multiple adults and children living under the same roof, but the average American household has 2.6 people. The median household income is generally considered the best indicator of the financial situation of a typical middle class home.
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