Food stamp participation continues to rise
As a logical consequence of the prolonged economic downturn, participation in the federal food stamp program is continuing to rise.
The latest data released by the Department of Agriculture indicated that in June, 125,059 individual recipients were added to the food stamps program with the current total increasing 2.34% on a year-over-year basis.
Individuals receiving food stamp benefits increased to 47.76 million which, as a ratio of the overall civilian non-institutional population now stands at a whopping 19.45% of the population.
Households receiving food stamps benefits increased by 45,908 to 23.11 million households with the current total rising 3.01% above the level seen a year earlier
As participation continues to swell, so too has the total nominal benefit cost climbing 2.30% on a year-over-year basis to $6.34 billion for the month.
