American Poverty Hits Lowest Level since 2006

Last week, the Census Bureau announced that Americans’ incomes are growing and poverty is shrinking. The Federal Reserve announced that consumer credit grew more than expected in July. Lastly, the Labor Department concluded that job openings increased to a record-high level.

• According to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau, Americans appear to be benefiting from the strength of the economy. For the third consecutive year, Americans’ incomes rose and poverty fell. When adjusted for inflation, median household income climbed 1.8% in 2017 to $61,372. Further, the number of Americans in poverty fell 0.4% to its lowest level since 2006, before The Great Recession. Over the last three years, incomes have grown 10.4%, but there are concerns that the growth rate is slowing and some say incomes are not statistically different from incomes earned in the late ‘90s.

• Data released last week by the Federal Reserve show that consumer borrowing grew at an annualized 5.1% in July. Consumer credit rose $16.6 billion to a seasonally adjusted $3.91 trillion, greater than economists’ expectations of approximately $13.9 billion. Student and auto loans jumped up 6.4%, the greatest climb in eight months. Revolving credit, such as credit cards, grew only a modest 1.5% in the month. In the big picture, debt levels have been trending slightly downward, giving rise to concerns about the viability of consumer spending to drive the economy going forward.

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• New job openings rose to a record high in July, according to the monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey released by the Labor Department. Job openings rose 117,000 to 6.94 million, coming in just under expectations, but still signaling robust and growing demand in the labor market. Further, new hires in the month clocked in at 5.7 million, while separations totaled 5.5 million.