Real Incomes Tumble

By Sara Kline in West Chester 10/22/2009

The Census Bureau's annual report on Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States in 2008 showed that real median household income fell between 2007 and 2008. The decline was the first since 2004, which was the fifth in a string of declines. In 2008, median household income fell an inflation-adjusted 3.6%—the largest decline in the history of the series. Also of note is the fact that the current single-year decline is greater than the decline in the prior single-year recession (-3.5%) and nearing the cumulative decline of the 1990-1991 recession (-3.9%). ...

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