Data compiled by Sentier Research found that since the economic recovery technically began in June 2009, median household income has dropped 5.7 percent. As of August, that median income was $50,678 -- also down 1.1 percent from the month prior.

And since Obama took office in January 2009, the median income has fallen 8.2 percent, from $55,198 to its present figure.

"The August decline in real median annual household income is indicative of a struggling economy," Sentier said in its report.

"Even though we are technically in an economic recovery, real median annual household income is having a difficult time maintaining its present level, much less 'recovering.'"

The figures continue to paint a dim portrait of the nation's post-recession economic rebound, and are sure to factor into the robust economic debate on the campaign trail...

The White House projects that the unemployment rate will still be above 9 percent next year as President Obama seeks to win a second term.

The new figures from the White House budget office predict that the economy will grow by just 1.7 percent this year, a full percentage point less than the administration predicted at the beginning of 2011. The economy grew by just 0.7 percent in the first half of the year, the slowest pace since the recession ended two years ago.

But the White House does not forecast the economy sliding back into recession.

The White House report also sees the budget deficit topping $1.3 trillion for the fiscal year that ends at the end of this month.

(CNSNews.com) - When asked questions about the president’s upcoming speech on jobs and economic growth yesterday, White House Spokesperson Jay Carney claimed that only the most ‘fervent partisan’ would suggest the 8 million plus jobs lost in this recession were lost because of actions Barack Obama took.

The question was asked by CBS reporter Norah O'Donnell. The exchange appears in the official White House transcript of the press briefing:

Q -- Jay, the question is what is different in this new speech? What is going to be different?

MR. CARNEY: Well, you will see what the President proposes to enhance growth, enhance hiring, and you will judge then what's different about the new ideas that are contained within it as well as ideas that you've heard about. But I can't let the premise go uncommented on when you talk about the amount of job loss in the time since the President took -- was sworn into office.

There are lots of ways to define a recession – three quarters of negative economic growth, three quarters in which growth is below the rate needed to meet an expanding population, or, as Ronald Reagan said, “when your neighbor loses his job.” A depression, Reagan said, was when “you lose your job.”

For political purposes, recession is when most voters believe the economy is getting worse. So regardless of what the academics say, for Power Play’s uses, recession is already a reality. Its length and severity will likely determine the next chapter of American history.

If the trauma is brief and even modest recovery follows, President Obama may yet be re-elected and cement gains that American Democrats have sought for 70 years. If the hardship deepens or extends to the end of the year, the president will come to yearn for the days of 39 percent job approval ratings...

Americans are relying more on federal government aid than ever before according to an analysis of federal data conducted by USA Today.

Last year, 18.3 percent of American income came from government programs such as Social Security, Medicare, unemployment benefits and food stamps, while earned income accounted for only 50.1 percent, the lowest number recorded.

The percentage of government income Americans received hovered around 12 percent during the 80s and 90s but rose during the last decade, the report says, due to an aging population, the economic downturn and an expansion of health care benefits. The biggest increase took place in the back half of the decade as the recession took hold...

The slumping housing market struck a sour note Tuesday, somewhat dampening optimism that the economy is getting a big sugar rush from the best Christmas selling season in three years.

Splurging consumers bent on celebrating the holidays in style so far have been largely undeterred by continuing doubts about the state of the housing and jobs markets, retailers report. Consumer spending is the biggest engine of growth, accounting for about 70 percent of economic activity.

But a report from Standard & Poor's Corp. on Tuesday showed the housing market continues to cast a shadow over the consumer parade. A renewed drop of 1.3 percent in home prices in 20 major U.S. cities in October showed clearly that housing fell into a double-dip recession last fall...

(CNSNews.com) – Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) renewed their call on Wednesday for making the current tax rates permanent before they automatically reset to 1990’s-era levels at year’s end.

DeMint and Pence highlighted legislation they introduced on Nov. 17, The Tax Relief Certainty Act, which would prevent income tax rates from resetting to the higher 1990’s-era levels, prevent the scheduled return of the estate tax, set capital gains tax rates at 15 percent, and permanently patch the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

Both conservative lawmakers noted that raising taxes on any American during a recession was bad economic policy...

Two weeks after President Obama signed the new health care bill, opposition to it remains strong. In addition, the president’s legislative victory did not help his job approval rating, which hit a new low in a Fox News poll released Thursday.

The poll also finds more voters would punish rather than reward incumbents who voted for the health care bill, and that the Democratic win did nothing to energize the party faithful for the midterms.

President Obama’s overall job approval rating dropped to a new low of 43 percent. Nearly half -- 48 percent -- disapprove. In mid-March, it was 46-48 percent. His current rating among Democrats (80 percent) and independents (38 percent) are among his lowest ratings with these groups. He is now in single digits among Republicans (7 percent). By comparison, former President George W. Bush’s approval among Democrats went as low as 4 percent...

The number of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits rose last week, a sign that jobs remain scarce even as the economy recovers.

The Labor Department said first-time claims increased by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 460,000. That's worse than economists' estimates of a drop to 435,000, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

The report covers the week that includes the Easter holiday, and a Labor Department analyst said seasonal adjustment for that week can be difficult since the Easter holiday occurs in different weeks each year...

Despite a modest rise last month in employment, the White House on Sunday braced out-of-work Americans for a slow economic recovery.

Obama's chief economic adviser Lawrence Summers said on a pair of talk shows that a year after the passage of the stimulus bill, the U.S. economy still has "a long way to go."

Summers said pushing the unemployment rate down from its current 9.7 percent level won't be easy...