The number of Americans receiving food stamps in March topped 40 million for the first time as the jobless rate hovered near a 26-year high.
Recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program subsidies for food purchases totaled 40.2 million, up 21 percent from a year earlier and 1.2 percent more than in February, the Department of Agriculture said yesterday in a statement on its website. The number of recipients has set records for 16 straight months.
Food aid climbed as the unemployment rate stayed at 9.7 percent in March for a third straight month, near levels last seen in 1983, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate rose to 9.9 percent in April. Jobless numbers for May will be released tomorrow.
Continue reading More Than 40m Now Use Food Stamps
Catherine Austin Fitts’ Blog Commentaries
Food Stamps USA
7 Aug 09
Food Stamp Numbers Climb
7 Sept 09
Food Stamp Funding up 19%
11 Oct 09
Half of U.S. Kids Will Get Food Stamps
3 Nov 09
Food Stamps Go to a Record 37.2 Million, USDA Says
15 Dec 09
