The recession has hit middle-income and poor families hardest, widening the economic gap between the richest and poorest Americans as rippling job layoffs ravaged household budgets.

在經濟衰退中，損失最為慘重的要數中等收入和貧困家庭。此外，衰退還造成最富裕和最貧困的美國人之間經濟差距擴大，因為一波波裁員的侵襲使家庭可用開支遭受重創。

Household income declined across all groups, but at sharper percentage levels for middle-income and poor Americans. Median income fell last year from $52,163 to $50,303, wiping out a decade's worth of gains to hit the lowest level since 1997. Poverty jumped sharply to 13.2 percent, an 11-year high.

雖然全美各個群體的家庭收入普降，但是中低收入者的跌幅更大。去年，（家庭）收入的中位數從52163美元降低到50303美元，達到了1997年以來的最低點，相當于十年的財富收益蒸發殆盡。貧困人口的比例則飆升至13.2%，創下了11年來的新高。

No one should be surprised at the increased disparity. Analysts attributed the widening gap to the wave of layoffs in the economic downturn that have devastated household budgets. They said while the richest Americans may be seeing reductions in executive pay, those at the bottom of the income ladder are often unemployed and struggling to get by.

對于日益擴大的收入差距，我們不應大驚小怪。經濟低迷時期的裁員風潮導致家庭的可用開支急劇減少，分析師認為這才是導致收入差距擴大的罪魁禍首。他們認為，雖然最富裕的美國高管們也會發現收入縮水，但那些工資最低的人才是真正的受害者，因為他們經常遭到解雇，艱難度日。