Wonkbook: Middle class incomes had their fastest growth on record last year

By Jim Tankersley The incomes of typical Americans rose in 2015 by 5.2  percent, the first significant boost to middle-class pay since the end of the Great Recession and the fastest increase ever recorded by the federal government, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. In addition, the poverty rate fell by 1.2 percentage points, the steepest decline since …   The latest economic and domestic policy from Wonkblog   Debbie Holbrook works on a 2016 Chevrolet Camaro on the production line at the General Motors plant in Lansing, Michigan on Oct. 26, 2015. Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg By Jim Tankersley The incomes of typical Americans rose in 2015 by 5.2  percent, the first significant boost to middle-class pay since the end of the Great Recession and the fastest increase ever recorded by the federal government, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. In addition, the poverty rate fell by 1.2 percentage points, the steepest decline since 1968. There were 43.1 million Americans in poverty on the year, 3.5 million fewer than in 2014. The share of Americans who lack health insurance continued a years-long decline, falling 1.3 percentage points, to 9.1 percent. The numbers, from the government's annual report on income, poverty and health insurance, suggest the recovery from recession is finally beginning to lift the fortunes of large swaths of American workers and families. The Obama administration and its allies immediately hailed them in glowing terms. ADVERTISEMENT   "This exceeds the strong expectation that I already had,"  Jason Furman, chairman of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, said in an interview, in which he called the income report the strongest ever from the Census Bureau. "The news here is the growth rates. I've read the last 21 reports, including this one. I have never seen one like this, in terms of, everything you look at is what you'd want to see or better." Read the rest on Wonkblog.   Chart of the day You'd need at least four baskets for Donald Trump's voters. Max Ehrenfreund has more. Top policy tweets "Tyler debates Noah on infrastructure spending: Both have good points. https://t.co/GoCEQgIzwK" -- @ModeledBehavior "What Brainard says here seems obviously true, and screams DO NOT HIKE RATES. Why don't her colleagues see it? https://t.co/S3Blj3EjVB" -- @paulkrugman "Progressives opposing the most progressive person at the Fed—Brainard—are doing it wrong https://t.co/Ne3QTP595y" -- @ObsoleteDogma Most Recent Posts from Wonkblog Wells Fargo CEO: “I feel accountable.” The San Francisco-based bank has been thrown into a harsh spotlight since regulators said it created 2 million accounts customers didn't ask for. By Renae Merle  •  Read more »   Trump’s maternity leave plan looks a lot like Bill Clinton’s from 1999 By Danielle Paquette  •  Read more »   The striking difference between states that expanded Medicaid and the ones that didn’t Expanding Medicaid would decrease the uninsured rate. By Carolyn Y. Johnson  •  Read more »   Centrist figure at the Federal Reserve to step down next year No timetable given for naming a replacement. By Ylan Q. Mui  •  Read more »   Middle class incomes had their fastest growth on record last year The incomes of typical Americans rose in 2015 by 5.2 percent, the first significant boost to middle-class pay since the end of the Great Recession, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday morning. By Jim Tankersley  •  Read more »   Wells Fargo fired 5,300 workers for improper sales push. The executive in charge is retiring with $125 million. The company's "record" fine looks puny compared to its top executives pay packages. By Renae Merle  •  Read more »   Don’t make this serious mistake when deciding where to send your kids to college Imagine a family considering where their whip-smart, high-achieving teenager might attend college. They look up some elite universities' tuition prices and discover that many exceed the parents' combined income of $40,000 a year! Reeling from sticker shock, the family resolves to focus instead only on apparently cheaper educational options. Two recent analyses of college affordability […] By Keith Humphreys  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Recommended for you   Federal Insider Federal news and policy update, in your inbox daily. Sign Up »         Share Wonkbook:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for a Wonkblog newsletter. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2016 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071