Census Bureau: American incomes hit all-time high in 2019
Poverty level lowest ever recorded.
Go Trump. Go!
Median household income reached an all-time high, coming in at $68,700 in 2019. That is a 6.8% increase, from $64,324 in 2018, the largest one-year increase on record. The poverty rate fell to the lowest in recorded history, at 10.5%, a decline of 1.3%. The poverty level fell for the fifth consecutive year.
The specifics that Trump often refers to – the categories of specific demographics tell the tale, too. Real median incomes grew for black Americans (7.9%), Hispanic Americans (7.1%), and Asian Americans (10.6%). Remember when then-candidate Trump asked minority voters, “What the hell do you have to lose?” Any minority voter that took that challenge to heart has been vindicated, certainly economically speaking. Income levels for minorities reached record levels.
There were 2.2 million more people working at some point in 2019 compared with 2018 and 1.2 million more people working full-time year-round. Women workers drove the increase in full-time year-round workers.
On poverty, over 4 million people were lifted out of poverty between 2018 and 2019. Child poverty fell to a near 50-year low, and the poverty rate fell to an all-time low for every race and ethnic group. Declines in minority poverty rates were greater than declines in overall poverty rates – Black (-2.0%), Hispanic (-1.8%), and Asian (-2.8%).
Trump’s policies
worked – deregulation and tax cuts produce economic growth and encourage employment.
Trump can do the same for the economy that he did before the pandemic. We are off to a good start in economic recovery.
Pre-pandemic, the unemployment rate was at a near-historic low, at under 4% in February which then went to 15% in April. It has since fallen to below 9% and likely to continue to drop. With the country slowly re-opening and safety measures put into place against further outbreaks of the coronavirus, this progress will likely continue through the end of the year.
The Census Bureau’s numbers are good for President Trump. It is possible for
a full pre-pandemic recovery by the end of 2021.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve published results of a survey of 35 economic forecasters on August 14, 2020. They predicted the US economy would expand at an annual rate of 19.1 percent in the third quarter. This was almost double the prediction of 10.6 percent from the last survey.
