US reports rising income, falling poverty

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Household income in the world’s largest economy rose for the second straight year in 2016 while poverty also continued to decline, according to government figures Tuesday.

The share of the public living without health insurance also saw back-to-back decreases, with another 900,000 people gaining coverage between 2015 and 2016, the Commerce Department figures showed.

The annual report showed that, in the year before President Donald Trump took office, the general public continued to share in the benefits of an economic recovery since the great recession in 2008.

“We also see more people working and more people working year-round full time,” Trudi Renwick, assistant chief for economic characteristics at the Census Bureau, told AFP.