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.

在经济衰退中，损失最为惨重的要数中等收入和贫困家庭。此外，衰退还造成最富裕和最贫困的美国人之间经济差距扩大，因为一波波裁员的侵袭使家庭可用开支遭受重创。

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.

虽然全美各个群体的家庭收入普降，但是中低收入者的跌幅更大。去年，（家庭）收入的中位数从52163美元降低到50303美元，达到了1997年以来的最低点，相当于十年的财富收益蒸发殆尽。贫困人口的比例则飙升至13.2%，创下了11年来的新高。

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.

对于日益扩大的收入差距，我们不应大惊小怪。经济低迷时期的裁员风潮导致家庭的可用开支急剧减少，分析师认为这才是导致收入差距扩大的罪魁祸首。他们认为，虽然最富裕的美国高管们也会发现收入缩水，但那些工资最低的人才是真正的受害者，因为他们经常遭到解雇，艰难度日。