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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Tag: Median income

County Business Patterns Report

Fewer manufacturing jobs, housing bust haunt many U.S. counties, By Tim Henderson, January 22, 2016, Stateline: “This Georgia suburb, about 23 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta, has been buffeted by the broader economic troubles the U.S. has experienced since 2000.  Rockdale County businesses produce disposable cups and pizza boxes, walk-in coolers and pre-fabricated gas stations. But since the turn of the century, the number of manufacturing jobs in the county has declined by 27 percent, according to the latest County Business Patternsreport produced by the U.S. Census Bureau. Now more Rockdale residents have lower-paying jobs in health care, retail, hotels and restaurants — and they are falling behind…”

The Middle Class

The middle class is poorer today than it was in 1989, By Matt O’Brien, October 1, 2014, Washington Post: The fundamentals of the economy are, well, okay. It’s been slow and steady, but the recovery has chugged along enough to get us back to something close to normal. The economy has surpassed its pre-crisis peak, unemployment is at a six-year low, and stocks have more than tripled from their 2009 low. It’s not the best of times, but it’s certainly not the worst — which was a very real possibility after Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy threatened to send us into a second Great Depression…”