Biggest low-income populations in US are more often in the Southwest, particularly near the Mexico border, Pew Study, May 11, 2016-AP

May 15, 2016, "Middle class shrinks in 9 of 10 US cities as incomes fall," AP, Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economics Writer  
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"In cities across America, the middle class is hollowing out. A widening wealth gap is moving more households into either higher- or lower-income groups in major metro areas, with fewer remaining in the middle, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center.
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In nearly one-quarter of metro areas, middle-class adults no longer make up a majority, the Pew analysis found. That's up from fewer than 10 percent of metro areas in 2000....

"Overall, cities with the largest middle classes are more likely to be in the Midwest. Those with the biggest low-income populations are more often in the Southwest, particularly near the Mexico border. Metro areas with the highest proportions of upper-income households are more likely to be found in the Northeast or along the West Coast....

The hollowing out of the middle class has occurred even as the income needed to meet Pew's definition of the middle has declined. A three-person household had to earn $45,115 in 1999 to qualify as middle-class. Now, that figure is just $41,641.

Wendell Nolen, 52, has experienced the slide from middle-class status firsthand. Eight years ago, he was earning $28 an hour as a factory worker for Detroit's American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings, assembling axles for pickup trucks and SUVs.

But early in 2008, things unraveled. After a three-month strike, Nolen took a buyout rather than a pay cut. Less than a year later, the plant was closed and American Axle shipped much of its work to Mexico.

Now Nolen makes $17 an hour in the shipping department of a Detroit steel fabricator, about 40 percent less than he made at the axle plant.

"America is losing jobs because of the free trade stuff," Nolen argued. "They're selling America out.""...

Wendell Nolen

"April 8, 2016, image made from a video shows Wendell Nolen, who said he has experienced the slide from middle-class status first-hand, in Hamtramck, Mich. A widening wealth gap is moving more households into either higher or lower-income groups in major metro areas, with fewer remaining in the middle, according to a report released Wednesday, May 11, 2016, by the Pew Research Center. (APTN via AP)"

""America is losing jobs because of the free trade stuff," Nolen argued. "They're selling America out."" 
 


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