Highest earners' pay rose fivefold in '09

Highest earners' pay rose fivefold in '09
By Ryan J. Donmoyer

Bloomberg News Tuesday, October 26, 2010 - Page updated at 12:16 AM
WASHINGTON* *Those top-end Americans earned a combined $38.4 billion in 2009, up from $11.9 billion earned by 131 individuals with wages exceeding $50 million in 2008, according to Social Security Administration data.

Nationally, the average annual wage fell by $384 to $39,269 and the median wage fell by $253 to $26,261 during the worst economic slump since the Great Depression. The 74 top wage earners together made as much as the combined income of the 19 million lowest-paid people in America, who constitute one in every eight workers.

Another statistic of note: One in every 34 wage earners in 2008 failed to earn a single dollar in 2009.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/​2013257366_income26.html.

 

And on top of that GDP rose by 2% in the last quater for the 5th consecutive time, still not enough but at least it is going in the right direction