Sep 18, 2011

Poverty rate hits 18-year high as median income falls

The median income fell last year, and the poverty rate rose to the highest level since 1993. Shaded areas represent recessions.

The number of Americans who have fallen into poverty rose to 15.1 percent in 2010, the highest level in nearly two decades, the  Census Bureau said Tuesday in a report.

The report, which showed the poverty rate rose for a third straight year as the economy struggles with a stumbling recovery and persistent high joblessness, said the number of poor Americans in 2010 was the largest in the 52 years that it has been publishing poverty estimates... read on at MSNBC