From WRAL
WASHINGTON — Income growth stumbled at the family doorstep in 2004, new government figures show, declining by 2.3 percent after adjustment for inflation.
The Federal Reserve also reported Thursday that net worth grew, although at a slower pace than in 2001, the previous year for which the comparison was made.
The drop in inflation-adjusted incomes left the average family income at $70,700 in 2004. The median, or point where half the families earned more and half less, did rise slightly in 2004 after adjusting for inflation to $43,200, up 1.6 percent from the 2001 level.
The median, or midpoint for net worth rose by 1.5 percent to $93,100 from 2001 to 2004. That growth was far below the 10.3 percent gain in median net worth from 1998 to 2001, a period when the stock market reached record highs before starting to decline in early 2000.
Interesting in light of the new CLI report showing that cost of local government in the same year increased another 3/10 of a percent to 4.65 of incomes in NC.
