Article 13 and 11 are still being negotiated and creators shouldn't be worried, unless they create via copy/paste.
This Friday and most likely the final trilogue next week should spell it out.

It really looks like being a creative on YouTube, and importantly, a successful creative, is a good way to make money online.

It says creators earning five or six figures in the last year grew more than 40%.

This is a meaningless statistic, growing from 10 to 14 is growth of 40%, but if the 10 was 10 out of 10,000,000 that number is so small that it is laughable. What would be valuable to know would be what proportion of all publishers earn over 5 figures, and whether that proportion has changed. My guess is that there are more publishers earning far less this years than last.

NickMNS, your guess is spot on.

... 1M subscribers?

Just show me the money. All the rest is hot wind and somebody's skirt is getting lifted.

What would be valuable to know

What's valuable for you to know is perhaps too valuable for them to share ;-)

My guess is that there are more publishers earning far less this years than last.

With so many people jumping on the YouTube bandwagon, hoping to make a quick buck, that's a pretty safe assumption. As with many things, most people won't make it to the top, or even get close to it. But no matter the exact distribution of wealth, it's clear that YouTube is booming, and probably contributing significantly to Alphabet's continued revenue growth [webmasterworld.com].

I don't doubt for one minute that google is talking it up, and that many creatives remain on much lower incomes, while the minority rise to the top.

Read it and absorb, and give it a try, and then see how bad or good it is.