US median incomes grew in 2017 for a 3rd straight year
WASHINGTON — The income of a median U.S. household rose for a third straight year in 2017, boosted by a rise in the number of Americans with full-time, year-round jobs.
The Census Bureau said Wednesday that incomes for a typical household, adjusted for inflation, rose 1.8 per cent, from $60,309 in 2016 to $61,372. Yet households are still earning essentially the same income they did in 2007 just before the Great Recession, Census said. Their inflation-adjusted median income remains below the record for a typical household — $62,000 reached in 1999.
The figures suggest that the nation’s very low unemployment rate — 3.9 per cent — is forcing businesses to convert more part-time workers to full-time status. And with unemployed workers scarce, companies are hiring more people who previously weren’t looking for work. During 2017, the unemployment rate averaged 4.4 per cent, the lowest level in 17 years.
At the same time, the data underscores the lasting damage the Great Recession did to the majority of American families. Incomes for the median household fell for five years after recession began in late 2007, then recovered very slowly until 2015. That year, median household income jumped 5.1 per cent, followed by a 3.1 per cent gain in 2016.