The Census Bureau report Income and Poverty in the US 2016 shows real household income in the US hit a new record high of $59,039 in 2016 thanks to a methodology change and rising incomes of women.

by Mish

Real, inflation adjusted, earnings of men are below where they were in 1973.

Methodology Change Impact on Earnings

New Record

The Wall Street Journal reports U.S. Household Incomes Rose in 2016 to New Record.

Widening Inequality

Hooray!

Slightly more than half of US households are now back to where they were in 2000.

“For income, there were statistically significant differences for many key measures between the redesigned and traditional questions. For example, median household income calculated by using the redesigned questions was 3.2 percent higher than the median income found using the traditional questions.”

When all else fails, change the methodology.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock