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© Jessica
Rinaldi / Reuters
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The median annual
household income in the US last year fell 1.5 per cent to US$53,657, according to
Census Bureau data released on Wednesday.
"In
2014, real median household income was 6.5 percent lower than in 2007, the year
before the most recent recession," said the Census report.
The
report also showed no change in the poverty rate during the year. 46.7 million
US citizens, or about 15 percent of the population, lived in poverty last year.
The number hasn’t changed since 2013.
RT report continues:
Republican
Paul Ryan, chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee,
said the Census figures showed efforts to fight poverty were not working.
"This
disappointing data, five years into an economic recovery, underscores the need
for a new effort to modernize our country’s safety net programs," said
Ryan in a statement.
While
the report showed that the US unemployment rate has fallen to 5.1 percent,
wage gains have fallen behind. Some 6.5 million Americans are working part-time
because they cannot find a full-time job.
The
Census Bureau also reported that the number of Americans without health
insurance has dropped to 33 million, or 10.4 percent of the population, from
41.8 million, or 13.3 percent in 2013.
Under the Affordable Care
Act, known commonly as Obamacare, Americans face fines if they do not have
health insurance.
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