Excerpt:
The U.S. Census Bureau released a report on Tuesday, part of the American Community Survey (ACS), that found that the overall poverty rate in the US rose to 13.2 percent in 2008. That statistic represents approximately 39.8 million Americans. See: http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/acsbr08-1.pdf.
This report is the most recent one that measures the impact of the recession on working class families and the poor. Based on the changes between 2007 and 2008, the first full year of the recession, its findings do not reflect increases in poverty and joblessness this year as the consequences of the economic crisis have become even more severe.
When Ben Bernanke said that the recession is ” very likely over,” he must have been referring to his buddies on Wall street and not the average American.
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