THE RICH GET RICHER WHILE THE MIDDLE CLASS HANGS IN THE BALANCE

Washington, D.C.--  Just in time for April 15, new data shows that since 1979, the nation’s overall average tax rate-- the share of income paid in taxes-- has fallen slightly, but for those at the top of the earnings ladder this share has fallen dramatically. The analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) also points out:

At the same time that the tax burden has shifted away from the wealthy, this same top income group has enjoyed massively disproportionate income gains. Between 1992 and 2007, a time in which income for the average household and top one percent grew 13 percent and 123 percent, respectively, the income for the top 400 households grew fully 399 percent.

The massive unemployment rate, in which more than 25 million U.S. workers are unemployed or underemployed, is cutting deep into America’s once vibrant middle class. But until corporations-- which are sitting on $1.93 trillion in cash-- start creating jobs, the U.S. income gap will only worsen. As another EPI anaylsis showed earlier this week:

The ratio of unemployed workers to job openings was 4.4-to-1 in February, a substantial improvement from the revised December ratio of 5.1-to-1…However, February marks 26 months that the “job-seeker’s ratio” has been substantially above the 4-to-1 ratio. A job seeker’s ratio of 4-to-1 means that for 3 out of 4 unemployed workers, there simply are no jobs.