As a logical consequence of the prolonged economic downturn it appears that participation in the federal food stamp program is continuing to 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 24.50% while individual participation, as a ratio of the overall population, has increased 20.85% over the same period.
The February results confirm that participation is continuing to climb, likely as a result of the jump in total unemployment, driving the nominal benefit costs up an astounding 42.78% on a year-over-year basis to $5,287,997,888 for the month.
