The Census Bureau released its annual look at US household incomes on Tuesday, the most detailed report on the financial health of the nation in the run-up to the 2016 election. The economy is once again the central background of the 2016 campaign. The data confirmed what the Obama administration has been trying to convince American voters of for more than a year: the US economic recovery is here. But it also highlighted how much work remains to be done.

Yes, the median household income saw its first significant increase since 2007 last year, rising by 5.2%. It’s the first rise since the recession and since Obama was elected, and it’s clearly a significant moment. But, for perspective, that increase brings the median household income up to $56,516 a year, which is about where it was back in 1999. Adjusted for inflation, Americans today are bringing home 2.4% less than they were at the turn of the millennium. It’s no wonder that so many feel as though they haven’t had a significant raise in years – because they haven’t.

In 2015, the gender wage gap shrank by a penny. This means that women earned 80 cents for every dollar earned by men that year, up from 79 cents the year before. Clinton has long called for equal pay. While serving in the US Senate, she co-sponsored the Paycheck Fairness Act, which despite being introduced in every Congress since 1997 has yet to pass.

Speaking at the Republican national convention, Ivanka Trump promised that her father too would fight for equal pay for women. “He will fight for equal pay for equal work, and I will fight for this too, right alongside of him,” she said''

Questions for discussion:

1) Could we have done anything different to bring down the unemployment rate faster? Would this have made things worse?

2) Consumption is the largest component of GDP and the level of consumption will largely be determined by the amount of money people have. How have we had consistent growth in GDP for several years considering real wages have not gone up until now?