After a long stretch of economic stagnation, the stars may be aligning at last for America’s hard-pressed middle class. The U.S. economy’s growing strength, plus a push in Washington to update overtime rules, could combine to boost incomes and give working families a long overdue raise.
New government figures show that the Obama recovery is finally reaching average Americans. Median household income rose by five percent in 2015, the biggest single-year spike since 1967. Families at all income levels made progress, with the bottom 10 percent reaping the largest gains. Rising incomes lifted 3.5 million people, including one million children, out of poverty and modestly reduced inequality.
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