The U.S. Census Bureau reported on Tuesday that household incomes rose between 2015 and 2016, while the poverty rate declined marginally. Median household income in the United States in 2016 was $59,039, an increase in real terms of 3.2% from the 2015 median income of $57,230. This is the second consecutive annual increase in median household income. The nation's official poverty rate in 2016 was 12.7 percent, with 40.6 million people in poverty, 2.5 million fewer than in 2015. The percentage of people without health insurance coverage for the entire 2016 calendar year was 8.8%, down from 9.1% in 2015.

After the recent spike at the pumps, gas prices are beginning to level off as refineries in the Gulf Coast begin to come back on-line after Hurricane Harvey devastated the area. The national average price for a regular gallon of gasoline is at $2.67, just above the $2.65 seen last week. Prices will most likely decrease in the next month when refineries come back to more normal levels of output.

A report out this week by Goldman Sachs says that Hurricanes Harvey and Irma could have a big negative effect on third quarter U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Hurricane Harvey could be the most costly natural disaster since WWII. Goldman Sachs predicts that as much as 1.0% could be knocked off GDP in the third quarter to bring it to 2% from the recent reading of 3% in the second quarter. However, Goldman did say that declines in GDP caused by natural disasters usually see big increases in subsequent quarters due in part to rebuilding the areas impacted.