Census Bureau numbers paint a depressing picture of local economy
By Erin Middlewood
Published: September 17, 2014, 5:00pm
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Five years of economic recovery did little for Clark County, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The bureau’s American Community Survey 2013 figures show the region hasn’t gained any ground since the end of the Great Recession.
In fact, more people are out of work and income is sliding.
“To nobody’s surprise, this confirms that we are very much still feeling the effects of the 2008 financial meltdown,” said Scott Bailey, regional labor economist for the state Employment Security Department. “We’ve seen a slide of people moving down the income scale.”
Here’s a rundown of significant changes over the past five years:
• The median household income in Clark County was $60,266 in 2009 and $57,588 in 2013. The census bureau noted that the dip in median household income was not statistically significant.
• Median earnings for Clark County men working full-time dropped from $54,169 in 2009 to $51,456 in 2013.
• More people were out of work — 37.2 percent — in 2013 than in 2009, when 33.9 percent were jobless.
• The portion of households making more than $75,000 a year in income and benefits dropped from 40.1 percent in 2009 to 37.4 percent in 2013.
• The percentage of households in poverty rose from 8.4 percent in 2009 to 9.1 percent in 2013, when the level was $23,550 for a family of four.
• Employment benefits are down, too. The percentage of workers with health insurance has fallen from 87.1 percent in 2009 to 84.2 percent in 2013.
• More unemployed people, however, have health insurance due to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. That figure climbed from 49.4 percent to 59.6 percent in the same time frame.
Thursday’s American Community Survey results are based on one-year estimates, and are not as reliable as those based on three- and five-year averages, Bailey said. He also pointed out that a shutdown of the federal government affected the 2013 data.
Nonetheless, the grim pictured painted by the latest Census Bureau figures is consistent with other data Bailey analyzes.
“There seems to be a recovery in jobs, but the labor force is not growing. The participation rate is going down,” he said. “When we’ve had job growth, we’ve had more part-time jobs than previously, which reflects more jobs but not an increase in income and wages.”
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