While nearly everyone has acknowledged that the so-called Recovery has been pathetic at best, the implication that most people take for granted is that it is still better than the Great Recession.
But is that assumption true?
Take for example a very bottom line measurement – your paycheck.
Median annual household income has fallen more during the recovery than it did during the recession, according to a new study from former Census Bureau officials Gordon Green and John Code. Between December 2007 and June 2009, when the U.S. economy was in recession, incomes declined 3.2 percent. While during the recovery between June 2009 and June 2011 incomes fell 6.7 percent, the study found.
This situation won’t change anytime soon, as 9 in 10 Americans don’t expect to get a raise this year.
That by itself should cast doubt on the assumption that this “recovery” is real, but there are other ways to measure it as well.