5 This was 49% higher than its level in 1970, when the median income was $50,200. With periodic interruptions due to business cycle peaks and troughs, the incomes of American households overall have trended up since 1970. Household incomes are growing again after a lengthy period of stagnation Economic inequality, whether measured through the gaps in income or wealth between richer and poorer households, continues to widen. Household incomes have grown only modestly in this century, and household wealth has not returned to its pre-recession level. Gains on the jobs front are also reflected in household incomes, which have rebounded in recent years.īut not all economic indicators appear promising. The unemployment rate in November 2019 was 3.5%, a level not seen since the 1960s. The labor market is on a job-creating streak that has rung up more than 110 months straight of employment growth, a record for the post-World War II era. Barely 10 years past the end of the Great Recession in 2009, the U.S.
