Wages Dropping

The Social Security Administration has released its figures regarding wages and salaries for 2009, and they shed some light on the effects the recession has had on our national income. Overall, 150.9 million Americans reported earned income in 2009, down 4.5 million from the number in 2008. Not surprisingly, the average earner saw his income drop by $384, down to $39,269, in 2009.

Toward the upper end of the scale, a total of 78,149 Americans earned a million dollars or more in wages and salaries (not counting capital gains) in 2009. That number was down from 101,200 people making a million dollars in 2008. The number of Americans who made more than $10 million dropped from 2,539 to 1,620. And at the very top end of the scale, the number of Americans making $50 million or more dropped from 131 in 2008 to just 74 in 2009.

No matter where you fell on the wage scale, 2009 was not a good time to be in the workforce.