, Columnist
Income Liftoff Shows the Recovery Is Real
It's been a long time coming, but finally lots of Americans are doing better -- including the working poor and middle class.
Part of the explanation.
Photographer: Bob Chamberlin/los angeles times/ getty imagesThis article is for subscribers only.
During the past two years, we have seen signs that wage pressure is building as the economic recovery grinds on. Enough evidence has now accumulated to suggest that it is already happening.
The latest data, courtesy of the Census Bureau, which released its annual update on incomes and poverty yesterday, showed that median household income increased a whopping 5.2 percent in 2015 to an inflation-adjusted $56,516. As the New York Times, noted, it was “the largest single-year increase since record-keeping began in 1967.”