2.2% Income Growth from 2015 Required to Keep Up in U.S. Economy

Saturday January 28 2016

Based upon last week’s “advance” estimate of full year 2016 GDP by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, StayingEven.com’s advance estimate of the 2016 Staying Even Index (SEI) is 2.2%.

This reading is significantly higher than the reported 1.3% increase in the average consumer price index (CPI) for 2016 compared to 2015, demonstrating that wages that increase with inflation/COLA are not sufficient to keep up in the growing U.S. economy. The 2.2% increase in the Staying Even Index (SEI) is based upon reported 2016 nominal GDP growth of 2.9% and population growth of 0.8%.  

This SEI reading suggests that individuals whose 2016 total income from all sources grew by more than 2.2% from 2015 expanded their adjusted share of the U.S. economy, and those whose total income grew by less than this fell behind compared to the prior year.   As previously released, SEI growth for calendar year 2015 was 2.9%.  

StayingEven.com will publish updates to these figures as GDP and population estimates are revised over the coming months and as future quarter GDP estimates are released.  We are dedicated to helping individuals understand what income growth is required to keep up in the U.S. Economy.  

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To find out whether you have gotten ahead, try our Staying Even Calculator, and to learn more about the Index, visit us at StayingEven.com.  You can also follow us @stayingeven on Twitter.