Politico.com reports a rather stunning finding from a report issued by by two former Census Bureau officials. According to Gordon Green and John Coder, income for American families declined more in the years following the economic recession than it did during the official recession itself.
During the recession, which economists say lasted from December 2007 to June 2009, the median annual household income fell by 3.2 percent, from $55,309 to $53,518. But in the post-recession period from June 2009 to June 2011, the figure fell by 6.7 percent, from $53,518 in June 2009 to $49,909 in June 2011.
From December 2007 to June 2011, the average income fell by 9.8 percent.
A decline of this magnitude represents a significant reduction in the American standard of living, Green and Coder wrote. The fall in household income during the recession as well as during the recovery period were highly correlated with high levels of unemployment, increases in the duration of unemployment, and the large number of persons who have experienced employment hardship, the report said.
If you go to the graph showing the Median Household Income Index (HII) and Unemployment Rate by Month: January 2000 to June 2011, your heart will sink. And so, it appears, will Obama’s re-election chances.
