Blog Post

AEIdeas

Well, we’re back to even. According to Sentier Research — using Census Bureau data — “median annual household income in November 2015 was $56,746, recapturing all of the ground lost since the beginning of the last recession in December 2007 ($56,714).” Moreover, since its 2011 nadir, incomes are up 9.4%.

And we’re probably doing a bit better than that. For instance: These are pre-tax numbers. (And they might not include noncash benefits, including Medicare and Medicare, and employer fringe benefits.) CBO calculated real median household income, after-tax income, at $67,200 in 2011, putting it back at 2006 levels and up nearly 14% since 1999. Here is the Sentier chart:

So incomes up, unemployment rate down. But if you look at the right direction/wrong direction polling numbers, you see little evidence of the economic rebound (though terrorism fears might also be factored in). The wrong track number is about 10 points worse today — with ups and downs to be sure — than in 2011: