Americans Actually Have Less Disposable Income

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By SBE Council, Special for  USDR.

As income inequality continues to be a growing issue for the American public and legislators, The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council), a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy, research and education organization working to protect small businesses and promote entrepreneurship, today released its “Gap Analysis #5: Americans’ Lost Income”, the fifth report in a series that shows a striking shortfall for the average American’s disposable  income.

“The bottom-line is Americans have less disposable income than they should,” said Raymond Keating, SBE Council’s Chief Economist. “This is personal income less personal taxes, adjusted for population and inflation. This is the income from which people make purchases, and generate savings and investment – the part of Americans’ income they spend on consumer goods and help fuel the overall economy. Over the past near-decade, including the current period of recovery and expansion, real per capita income growth has been a mere fraction of the long-term  norm.

A snapshot of the findings of the new report  include:

  • Average annual growth in nonfarm business sector real compensation per hour, which includes wages, salaries and benefits paid to workers, registered 1.4 percent from 1956 to 2016, and 1.5 percent from 1956 to 2006. However, from 2007 to 2016 – covering the recession and subsequent recovery-expansion period – real compensation per hour growth averaged only 0.6 percent. And since the start of the recovery in mid-2009, again, growth has averaged a woeful 0.6  percent.
  • Real per hour compensation growth during this recovery has registered a mere 43 percent of what the average annual growth rate has been over the past six  decades.
  • While the median household income has increased by 5.2 percent in 2015, over the last decade, there not only has been no growth in real median household income, it actually has decreased slightly, with the 2015 level coming in below the 2006 and 2007  levels.
  • Key number to consider: per capita real disposable personal income, which is personal income less personal taxes, adjusted for population and inflation. This is the income from which people make purchases, and generate savings and  investment.
  • Consider that growth in per capita real personal disposable income during these recent years of recovery/expansion has registered as a fraction of the long-term average growth rate. The 0.9 percent rate of growth from 2009 to 2015 compared to the 1956-to-2015 average growth rate of 2.09 percent, and 2.3 percent for 1956 to 2006. That is, growth from 2009 to 2015 ran, again, at 43 percent of the long-run  rate.
  • If per capita real personal disposable income grew at the average historic rate since 2009, real per capita personal disposable income would have registered $40,322 in 2015 versus the actual amount of $38,368 (both in real 2009 dollars). So, real average disposable personal income would have been $2,000 higher (2009 dollars) on average for individuals, and $8,000 higher for an average family of  four.

“That lost income means lost money to purchase goods and services from small businesses, to save, and to invest, thereby further feeding into slower economic growth and job creation,” said  Keating.

Keating also addressed recent news on the increase in real median household income in 2015 by arguing, “While it certainly was good news to see real median household income increase by 5.2 percent in 2015, this needs to be put in perspective. Over the last decade, there not only has been no growth in real median household income, but it actually has decreased slightly, with the 2015 level coming in below the 2006 and 2007  levels.”

The results in this fifth SBE Council “Gap Analysis” line up with the findings in the earlier  reports:

This fifth SBE Council “Gap Analysis” is scheduled to be followed by reports on jobs and trade, with a final report highlighting the basic policy changes needed to close these  gaps.

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