Americans’ average household income dropped in 2022 for the third straight year as President Joe Biden continues to paint a rosy economic picture.
The average household income in the U.S. fell from $76,330 in 2021 to $74,580 in 2022, a decline of 2.3%, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The decline comes as inflation has remained high and food and transportation costs continue to be high.
“Income estimates are expressed in real or 2022 dollars to reflect changes in the cost of living. Between 2021 and 2022, inflation rose 7.8%; this is the largest annual increase in the cost-of-living adjustment since 1981,” the Census Bureau said in a press release.
According to the bureau, the decline in income targeted those under the age of 65, while those 65 and older “did not experience a significant change in median income between 2021 and 2022.”
The 2022 decline in income may prove problematic for Biden, who has attempted to sell Americans on his policy of “Bidenomics.”
“‘Bidenomics’ is a blue-collar blueprint for America. It’s for you,” Biden said in a Labor Day speech last week. “As I said a thousand times, there is no quit in America. None. All I hear from my friends on the other side, what they say is wrong with America. They keep telling us America is failing. They’re wrong. I’ve got news for them. America has the strongest economy in the world right now, today.”
While inflation in 2023 has remained below 2022 levels, Americans are continuing to pay high prices for gas and basic food goods. The latest numbers from the Producer Price Index and the Consumer Price Index also indicate that food prices will continue to remain higher than average through the end of 2023 and into 2024.
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According to recent polling from the Wall Street Journal, while some Americans say that the economy is improving, many are still skeptical of Biden’s economic policies. About three in five Americans say that Biden has not handled the economy well, while 63% say he has handled inflation poorly, according to the Journal.
Biden’s team has pointed to declining inflation and low unemployment numbers as positive signs for the economy.
“They can go out and talk about this stuff all they want, these voters aren’t hearing it, or they’re not believing it,” Republican strategist Tony Fabrizio told the Journal. “They are certainly not buying it.”