An average American home has never seen better income as the economy continues to break records.
The median household income reached $61,483 in April, according to an estimate by Sentier Research based on monthly Census Bureau survey data.
It’s the highest
estimate by Sentier since it started providing monthly data in 2000, and also higher than any of the yearly Census Bureau
estimates that reach back to 1967.
American household incomes were decimated following the 2008 recession and continued to sink until 2011. Only then did wages start to recover. In recent months, however, the numbers have started to break new grounds.
The economy has broken several records over the past months, like the
most job openings in one month—6.55 million in March. That means there were almost as many job openings as the number of people unemployed.
Unemployment fell to
3.9 percent in April. The only time it has ever dropped so low since the 1969 recession was in April 2000—and only for one month.
Black and
Hispanic unemployment rates have also fallen to the lowest levels in recorded history, and among
women, the unemployment rate has decreased to the lowest since the 1950s.
The unemployment figure can be deceiving, as it does not include those who haven’t sought a job over the previous four weeks.
But even when counting the jobless who’ve looked for a job over the past 12 months and also those who’d like a full-time job but have to settle for a part-time one, the numbers look the best since 2001, standing at 7.8 percent, according to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The economy has been
beating expectations for over a year thanks to a boost to confidence in the economy. According to a recent
YouGov poll, almost two-thirds of Americans view the economy positively and more than two-thirds believe that President Donald Trump’s policies, including the
cutting of regulations, taxes, and his planned investment in infrastructure, are at least partly responsible.
More than two in three Americans also believe it’s now a good time “to find a quality job”—the most positive
response since Gallup started to ask the question in its polls 17 years ago.
In fact, the Gallup poll has never received over 50 percent of positive responses before Trump assumed office.
Since Trump took office, the median household income increased almost 3.2 percent, based on the Sentier data.
Trump ran on a core promise of reviving the economy and the promising results look to boost his agenda in the Nov. 6 midterm elections.
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