As a logical consequence of the prolonged economic downturn it appears that participation in the federal food stamp program is on the rise.In fact, household participation has been climbing so steadily that it has far surpassed the last peak set as a result of the immediate fallout following hurricane Katrina.
The latest data released by the Department of Agriculture shows that, on a year-over-year basis, household participation has increased 25.22% while individual participation, as a ratio of the overall population, has increased 21.64% over the same period.
The December results confirm that participation is continuing to climb dramatically, likely as a result of the recent jump in total unemployment, driving the nominal benefit costs up an astounding 43.73% on a year-over-year basis to $5,244,527,739 for the month.
