Economists don't have a standard definition for the "middle class." But the percentage of households having a pretax income of between $25,000 and $75,000 -- a group occupying roughly the middle half of Census income tables -- has declined by 1.2 percentage points since President Bush took office, after adjusting for inflation.
In the same 2000-2003 period, those making less than $25,000 grew by 1.5 percentage points to 29% of households. Those making more than $75,000 declined by 0.4% to 26% of all households. These numbers were crunched by FactCheck.org, a project of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center to examine campaign statements for accuracy.
The trends in wages are linked to the question of job creation. Even though the recovery may no longer be "jobless," economists say employers need to hire more vigorously -- picking up the slack in a growing labor market -- before workers will be able to command higher wages.
"These are not great times for the middle class," says Isaac Shapiro, an economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
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