... The Bloomberg News wire reads like the Daily Worker .

WASHINGTON — Those top-end Americans earned a combined $38.4 billion in 2009, up from $11.9 billion earned by 131 individuals with wages exceeding $50 million in 2008, according to Social Security Administration data.

Nationally, the average annual wage fell by $384 to $39,269 and the median wage fell by $253 to $26,261 during the worst economic slump since the Great Depression. The 74 top wage earners together made as much as the combined income of the 19 million lowest-paid people in America, who constitute one in every eight workers.

Another statistic of note: One in every 34 wage earners in 2008 failed to earn a single dollar in 2009.

The Social Security Administration statistics, released Oct. 15, come as Congress faces a debate after the Nov. 2 elections over whether to extend Bush-era tax cuts for all or some Americans. Tax cuts are scheduled to expire Dec. 31.