As the Economy Improves, the Number of Uninsured Is Falling But Not Because of a Rebound in Employer Sponsored Insurance
The Improving Economic Picture
Economic indicators suggest a modest economic recovery since the peak of the recession in 2010. The unemployment rate increased from 4.6 percent in 2007 to peak at 9.6 percent in 2010 (Figure 1). By 2012, the unemployment rate had fallen to 8.1 percent. The most recent data (December 2013) show that the unemployment rate has continued to fall to 6.7 percent. Real GDP fell from $14.9 trillion in 2007 to $14.4 trillion in 2009. Beginning in 2010, real GDP has increased reaching $15.5 trillion in 2012 (Figure 2). Real personal incomes, shown in Figure 3, fell between 2007 and 2010 but increased by 2012. Real median household income fell from $54,489 in 2007 to $50,831 in 2010, but reached $51,017 by 2012. Real per capita income fell from $29,682 in 2007 to $27,968 in 2010 and increased to $28,281 by 2012.