Economic Recovery 2010 to 2013

The economic recovery so far hasn’t been that great for most Americans. The people at the top of the economic pyramid saw their incomes increase after inflation, according to a new Federal Reserve study. But everyone else on average actually saw their incomes decline, after adjusting for inflation, from 2010-2013. Read some details here.

Households with access to assets such as homes and stock portfolios have found their wealth buoyed over. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) climbed 47 percent in the three years ended December 2013, while the S&P/Case Shiller index of property values climbed 13.4 percent.

Americans without such assets may have found the recovery in their finances slower going, partly because of a labor market that’s been gradual in gaining momentum.

With a “substantial degree” of labor market slack, “the need for extraordinary accommodation is unambiguous,” Yellen said in an Aug. 22 speech at the Kansas City Fed’s economic conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The top 10 percent of families by wealth got 46.7 percent of their pre-tax income from wages in 2013, down from 55.8 percent in 2010, the survey found. The share earned from capital gains climbed to 10.6 percent from 2.3 percent.