The median household income in the United States dropped for the third year in a row in 2022, according to new data released by the Census Bureau.
Yet President Joe Biden continues to paint a rosy economic picture.
The average household income in the U.S. fell from $76,330 in 2021 to $74,580 in 2022, a decline of 2.3%, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The decline comes as inflation has remained high and food and transportation costs continue to be high.
“Income estimates are expressed in real or 2022 dollars to reflect changes in the cost of living. Between 2021 and 2022, inflation rose 7.8%; this is the largest annual increase in the cost-of-living adjustment since 1981,” the Census Bureau said in a press release.
According to the bureau, the decline in income targeted those under the age of 65, while those 65 and older “did not experience a significant change in median income between 2021 and 2022.”
“‘Bidenomics’ is a blue-collar blueprint for America. It’s for you,” Biden said in a Labor Day speech last week. “As I said a thousand times, there is no quit in America. None. All I hear from my friends on the other side, what they say is wrong with America. They keep telling us America is failing. They’re wrong. I’ve got news for them. America has the strongest economy in the world right now, today.”
About three in five Americans say that Biden has not handled the economy well, while 63% say he has handled inflation poorly, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“They can go out and talk about this stuff all they want, these voters aren’t hearing it, or they’re not believing it,” Republican strategist Tony Fabrizio told the Journal. “They are certainly not buying it.”
The decline in household income also reflects the ongoing labor shortage, which has made it more difficult for some people to find work. The unemployment rate was 3.6% in May 2022, but the labor force participation rate was 62.3%, the lowest level since the pandemic began.
U.S. Census Bureau reports a 2.3% decline in real median household income in 2022 to $74,580.
Official poverty rate holds at 11.5%, but Supplemental Poverty Measure jumps 4.6 percentage points to 12.4%, first increase since 2010.
Health insurance coverage slightly improves;…
— AmerEcona (@AmerEcona) September 12, 2023
