Study finds wealth gap widening

NEW YORK » A report from the Census Bureau is the latest evidence that the rich are getting richer while the poor get poorer.

The recent study divided the U.S. into five groups, from wealthiest to poorest. The median net worth of the richest households rose 11 percent between 2000 and 2011, to $630,754. The next-wealthiest group’s net worth also rose.

But because wealth dropped for the majority of Americans, the median household net worth for the country overall declined about 7 percent to $68,828.

A rebound in the stock market and rising home values after the housing bust helped richer Americans regain their wealth since the recession, which began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. But the bottom 20 percent owed more than they had and were worse off in 2011 than they were in 2000.

Butter price reaches record high

The cash price for butter hit an all-time high Friday on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Butter hit $2.8225 a pound in Friday trading, topping the $2.81 record price it reached in 1998.

The cash price for butter on the CME began the month at $2.40 a pound.

Butter prices have soared this year as worldwide demand has grown.

Higher prices for dairy products are good news for dairy farms but bad news for food makers who use butter as a major ingredient in their products.

Increase forecast in Labor Day travel

A trade group for the nation’s big airlines predicts that air travel over the Labor Day weekend will rise 2 percent from the same holiday last year.

If correct, the forecast would be more good news for the airlines. Nine leading U.S. carriers earned $3.8 billion in the first half of this year — up from $1.6 billion a year ago — allowing them to pay down debt, reward shareholders and order new planes.

Those airlines are running profit margins of 5 percent, up from 2.1 percent in the first half of last year, according to the trade group Airlines for America. Revenue rose 6 percent, while their largest expense, fuel, fell 2.4 percent. The airlines are Alaska, Allegiant, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit and United.

Airlines are making record profits even as more and more flights are late or never take off. In the first half of 2014, U.S. airlines posted their worst on-time rate since 2008 and the highest cancellation rate since 2000, according to government figures.

The airline group predicted Thursday that 14 million people would fly on U.S. airlines during the seven days ending Sept. 2, the day after Labor Day. The busiest day is expected to be the Friday before the holiday weekend.

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