From the Ecopnomic Collapse Blog:
The following are 50 economic numbers from 2011 that are almost too crazy to believe....#1 A staggering 48 percent of all Americans are either considered to be "low income" or are living in poverty.#2 Approximately 57 percent of all children in the United States are living in homes that are either considered to be "low income" or impoverished.#3 If the number of Americans that "wanted jobs" was the same today as it was back in 2007, the "official" unemployment rate put out by the U.S. government would be up to 11 percent.#4 The average amount of time that a worker stays unemployed in the United States is now over 40 weeks.#5 One recent survey found that 77 percent of all U.S. small businesses do not plan to hire any more workers.#6 There are fewer payroll jobs in the United States today than there were back in 2000 even though we have added 30 million extra people to the population since then.#7 Since December 2007, median household income in the United States has declined by a total of 6.8% once you account for inflation.#8 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16.6 million Americans were self-employed back in December 2006. Today, that number has shrunk to 14.5 million.#9 A Gallup poll from earlier this year found that approximately one out of every five Americans that do have a job consider themselves to be underemployed.#10 According to author Paul Osterman, about 20 percent of all U.S. adults are currently working jobs that pay poverty-level wages.#11 Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs. Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.#12 Back in 1969, 95 percent of all men between the ages of 25 and 54 had a job. In July, only 81.2 percent of men in that age group had a job.#13 One recent survey found that one out of every three Americans would not be able to make a mortgage or rent payment next month if they suddenly lost their current job.#14 The Federal Reserve recently announced that the total net worth of U.S. households declined by 4.1 percent in the 3rd quarter of 2011 alone.#15 According to a recent study conducted by the BlackRock Investment Institute, the ratio of household debt to personal income in the United States is now 154 percent.#16 As the economy has slowed down, so has the number of marriages. According to a Pew Research Center analysis, only 51 percent of all Americans that are at least 18 years old are currently married. Back in 1960, 72 percent of all U.S. adults were married.#17 The U.S. Postal Service has lost more than 5 billion dollars over the past year.#18 In Stockton, California home prices have declined 64 percent from where they were at when the housing market peaked.#19 Nevada has had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation for 59 months in a row.#20 If you can believe it, the median price of a home in Detroit is now just $6000.