With the 2016 presidential hopefuls hitting the road to generate interest in candidacies, one topic that's sure to come up on the campaign trail is the economy. 

During a trip to Ohio, potential presidential candidate (and former Florida governor) Jeb Bush [R] was talking to the press about the economy and how families haven't actually benefitted from the economic recovery.  In a newspaper interview, Bush said this:

"We are in the sixth year of recovery, and median income is below what it was at the start of the recovery."

Our partners at PolitiFact were intrigued by this claim, especially considering that the economy does seem to be recovering.  PolitiFact reporter Joshua Gillin says that Bush's claim rates TRUE on the Truth-O-Meter.

"It may seem counterintuitive to think that wages would actually drop during a recovery," said Gillin.  "We took a look at the numbers, and lo and behold, that's what's actually happened.  Remember, you have to adjust for inflation between then and now, and when you do that, you see that the median income for a family of four has actually dropped by a few thousand dollars."

Gillin points out that the numbers are from a four-year period between 2009 and 2013.  "We have to add the caveat that we did not include 2014 numbers because we don't have them back yet," said Gillin.  "It's always possible it could change, but until they do change, Jeb Bush is absolutely correct."

Gillin says that Bush's claim is spot-on accurate as presented, which earns a TRUE rating on PolitiFact's Truth-O-Meter.

 

SOURCES: Median income during the recovery

  • PolitiFact ruling
  • Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "Call 'Islamic terrorism' what it is: a threat to West, Jeb Bush says," April 14, 2015
  • U.S. Census Bureau, "Table A-2, Selected Measures of Household Income Dispersion: 1967 to 2013," in "Income and Poverty in the United States: 2013," September 2014.
  • Email interview with Salena Zito, political writer with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 16, 2015
  • Email interview with Tara Sinclair, George Washington University economist, April 16, 2015
  • Email interview with Dean Baker, economist with the Center for Economic and Policy Research, April 16, 2015
  • Email interview with Matt Gorman, spokesman for Jeb Bush’s Right to Rise PAC, April 16, 2015