Growing US Income Inequality

Amidst so many other news stories it is easy to miss the fact that inequality continues to rise in the US.

“The Gini Index grew from 0.482 in 2017 to 0.485 last year, according to the bureau’s one-year American Community Survey data.“

The coastal states have the greatest inequality, as well as the greatest wealth and income growth. One statistic rarely describes an economy, which is why the Gini Index isn’t the complete story; but the Gini Index does manage to reflect the contribution of several statistics. Overall income is up, but most of it is concentrated with people who already have high income and net worth. Unemployment is up, but many of those jobs don’t provide the same wages, benefits, security, or advancement compared to decades ago. Hence, inequality grows even as some of the other economic data seemingly improves. On a scale of 0 to 1, the US is getting close to being equally situated between equality and inequality.

“US Inequality Grew, Including In Heartland States” – Associated Press