Household Income, Stuck in Reverse

The Census Bureau just issued a report titled, "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005," and it's hard to find the good news.
In 2000, the number of Americans living in poverty was estimated to be 31,581,000. That number climbed to 36,950,000 in 2005, an increase of more than 5 million.
The poverty rate grew from 11.3 percent to 12.6 percent.
The bad news isn't limited to the poorest Americans. When adjusted for inflation, all income groups have lost ground since 2000.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

While purchasing power has declined across the board, lower income groups have been harder hit over the last five years.
Tomorrow, we'll compare these numbers with the comparable statistics from the Clinton era.