Americans earned a smaller average income in 2005 than in 2000, the fifth consecutive year that they had to make ends meet with less money. ($55,238 in 2005 vs $55,714 in 2000)
The combined income of all Americans in 2005 was slightly larger than it was in 2000, but because more people were dividing up the national income pie, the average remained smaller.
Total income listed on tax returns grew every year after World War II, with a single one-year exception, until 2001, making the five-year period of lower average incomes and four years of lower total incomes a new experience for the majority of Americans born since 1945.
Nearly half of Americans reported incomes of less than $30,000, and two-thirds make less than $50,000.
The White House said the fact that average incomes were smaller five years after the Internet bubble burst “should not surprise anyone.”
BUT THERE IS GOOD NEWS...
The number of those making $1 million or more grew by more than 26 percent (303,817 in 2005, from 239,685 in 2000)
Those making $1 million or more, who constitute less than a quarter of 1 percent of all taxpayers, reaped 47 percent of the total income gains in 2005.
The fact that average incomes remained lower in 2005 than five years earlier helps explain why so many Americans report feeling economic stress despite overall growth in the economy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/business/21tax.html?ref=business
capital posted on Aug 21, 2007
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Comments
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curmudgeon said on Aug 21, 2007....
Should this be a surprise to anyone?Skilled manufacturing jobs are moving overseas where the cost of such labor is lower. Comparatively relaxed environmental regulations are also a draw for manufacturers.Meanwhile, highly skilled jobs such as those in IT, medicine and medical research are not just moving overseas, skilled people from overseas are emigrating and taking positions HERE.What's left here? Service and retail industries, agriculture, or managing the flow of capital. Hence the creation of millionaires and the lowering of "middle class" incomes.The world is competing against us and winning. The global playing field is finally leveling out. Playing silly class warfare games - as this post implies about the increase in millionaires - will not solve that problem for average Americans. -
capital said on Aug 22, 2007....
Not sure that the world is competing against us, rather working with us... Manufacturing jobs are moving overseas, that is true, but I don't see how that is a bad thing... It does not mean unemployment in the long run. It does mean one has to learn a new skill... adaptation. Usually this skill is more valuable than the old one. Government has a huge incentive to keep people employed: tax receipts. -
strikerx11 said on Aug 23, 2007....
I agree that it is not neccessarily a bad thing. People will just have to just learn a new skill.