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While the Commerce Department has just reported that the economy grew at an annual rate of 6.1 percent during the final quarter of 1998, independent economists cautioned that -- despite a hefty boost in the U.S. gross domestic product -- huge gaps exist in Americans' economic well-being.

ROBERT POLLIN, (413) 577-0126, (413) 549-8796, pollin@econs.umass.edu
Pollin, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said Friday: "The demand for soup kitchens and homeless shelters has increased dramatically. What this reflects is the declining value of the minimum wage and the increased difficulties faced by low-wage workers. Despite the fact that these people have jobs, they have not shared in the economic growth."

JULIANNE MALVEAUX, (202) 462-1932, jmnia@aol.com
An economist based in Washington, D.C., Malveaux commented: "While the overall unemployment rate is 4.3 percent, the rate for African-Americans is nearly 9 percent. Companies like Levi Strauss and Bank of America are posting layoffs. This is clearly a bifurcated prosperity."

ROBERT GINSBURG, (773) 278-5418 ext. 17, rginsburg@igc.org
"All growth is not equal," said Ginsburg, research director of the Midwest Center for Labor Research based in Chicago. "The current economic expansion has a dark side. In the past five years, nearly 50 percent of the jobs created paid less than the federal poverty level for a family of four. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only two-thirds of the people laid off in the last few years in the recurring waves of downsizing are back in full-time jobs. Of those lucky enough to get full-time jobs, nearly half earn less than they did before. This is why the income gap is increasing. That is why real wages have not risen above the level in the late '70s and that is why the number of poor and homeless in this country continues to grow."

EDWARD WOLFF, (212) 998-8917, wolffe@fasecon.econ.nyu.edu
Wolff, a professor of economics at New York University, said: "Despite the remarkable period of general prosperity over the last seven years, median family income today is still no greater than what it was in 1989. Moreover, wages, adjusted for inflation, are still lower today than they were 10 years ago. Moreover, despite the stock market boom over the last three years, the wealth holdings of the average family remain lower than what they were 10 years ago."

RHONDA WILLIAMS, (301) 405-1162, rwilliams@aasp.umd.edu
Williams is an economist and associate professor of Afro-American studies at the University of Maryland.