Source:
BloombergBy Timothy R. Homan
Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Household incomes decreased in 2008, the first full year of the recession, and the poverty rate rose to the highest since 1997, a government report showed.
The median household income fell 3.6 percent to $50,303, snapping three years of increases, the Census Bureau said today in its annual report on incomes, poverty and health insurance. The poverty rate climbed to 13.2 percent from 12.5 percent. The number of people living in poverty rose to 39.8 million last year, an increase of 2.6 million from 2007.
The decline in incomes underscores concerns that consumer spending will play a limited role in leading any recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s. Plunging home values and stock prices have fueled a record $13.9 trillion loss in household wealth in the U.S. since the middle of 2007.
Read more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aTRD0zaW3jFg