STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 17 September 2014

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24. Poverty in U.S. Falls for First Time Since Before Recession

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-16/poverty-in-u-s-declines-for-first-time-since-before-recession.html

The economic expansion that’s now in its sixth year is finally showing signs of trickling down to the poorest Americans.

The U.S. poverty rate eased to 14.5 percent in 2013 from 15 percent in the prior year, the first decline since 2006, the year before the last recession began, according to Census Bureau data released today. The decrease came as child poverty dropped by the most since 1966.

Faster economic growth and a jobless rate that dropped to 7.4 percent on average in 2013 from 9.3 percent in 2009 have helped to reduce the rate of poverty. Even so, there were 45.3 million impoverished Americans, little changed from 2012, and the rate remains higher than 12.5 percent in 2007.

“We’re certainly seeing an increase in year-round, full-time employment,” Chuck Nelson, an assistant division chief at the Census Bureau said on a conference call after the release. “It seemed to accelerate a little bit in 2013, which is why we’ve seen this drop in poverty.”