Essentially, this share of the population can be thought of as not enjoying the benefits of the post-war economic growth boom, which over the period 1947-65 saw average real GDP growth exceed 4% on an annualised basis, according to statistics available from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis. The same data also shows that personal consumption expenditure over this period increased roughly 3.7% annually and durable goods consumption increased 5.2% annually over the period, so clearly some part of the population enjoyed benefits of the post-war economic expansion. It is clear from the stability of relative poverty figures over this period however that this expansion did nothing to bring the poorest fifth of the population closer to the living standard enjoyed by the middle of the income distribution.