More Than 14% of Americans on Food Stamps
Bespoke Investment Group
By Team
May 4, 2011
As if we needed another reminder of the depressed level of the US economy, a recent WSJ article noted that one out of every seven Americans are on food stamps. Breaking out the numbers by state shows some wide divergences. Mississippi, which routinely has one of the highest unemployment rates, also has the highest percentage of its residents on food stamps at 20.6%. The only other state where one in five residents are on food stamps is Oregon. On the low end of the spectrum, Wyoming has the smallest proportion of its residents on food stamps (6.6%), and believe it or not there are only seven other states where less than one in ten people are on food stamps.
Numbers like the ones below highlight the fact that although the economy has been rebounding, it still has a long ways to go before many Americans will feel that things are anywhere close to normal. Now with gas prices back above $4 per gallon, many will be asking whether they can exchange those food stamps for gas stamps.
(c) Bespoke Investment Group
