U.S. Incomes Fell, Poverty Rose in 2002
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 27, 2003; Page A01
U.S. household incomes declined for the third year in a row, and nearly 1.7 million people in the country fell into poverty as the economy recovered sluggishly from the 2001 recession, the U.S. Census Bureau reported yesterday.
The poverty rate rose, for the second straight year, to 12.1 percent in 2002, from 11.7 percent the year before. Even so, the poverty rate last year remained below the average for the previous two decades.
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"The reach of the jobless recovery really jumps out at you in these numbers," said Jared Bernstein, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. "We're looking at another protracted weak recovery where the disconnect between economic growth and household income lasts for years."
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4586-2003Sep26.html