Green shoots fail to reduce food stamps

Bloomberg

It was the fourth straight month of record participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to department data. The total was 1.8 percent more than a month earlier and 19 percent higher than a year earlier, the USDA said. Total spending on the program was $3.8 billion in March, eclipsing the previous record of $3.7 billion in December.

"It’s extremely likely the numbers will continue growing into the middle of next year" as unemployment rates lag behind any economic recovery, said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, a Washington-based anti-hunger organization. "For all of the discussion of ’green shoots’ in the economy, people around the country who are experiencing what’s happening know it’s tough out there."

The government is boosting food aid in response to a jobless rate that probably rose to 9.2 percent in May, the highest since 1983, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg before a government report on June 5. The April figure was 8.9 percent. An additional $20 billion over five years was authorized for food aid in the $787 billion stimulus bill Congress passed in February.

The biggest jumps in food-stamp use for March were in Utah and Nevada, where the number of recipients in each state climbed 5.1 percent from February. In Utah, the usage rated soared 37 percent from a year earlier, while in Nevada it climbed 36 percent.

South Dakota and Louisiana were the only states where the number of participants declined. Texas had the most recipients, 2.94 million, followed by California with 2.65 million and New York with 2.3 million. The average monthly benefit for a family of four declined to $252.01 from $252.37 in February.

About 35 million people are expected to be receiving food stamps each month in the year that begins Oct. 1, according to the budget President Barack Obama sent to Congress last month. The U.S. has lost 5.7 million jobs since the recession started in December 2007, marking the biggest loss of jobs of any economic slump since the Great Depression.

"The record number of Americans receiving federal nutritional assistance is a stark reminder of the poor economy," said Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.