As a logical consequence of the prolonged economic downturn, participation in the federal food stamp program is continuing to rise.The latest data released by the Department of Agriculture indicated that in November, a whopping 379,910 individual recipients were removed from the food stamps program with the current total declining 1.36% on a year-over-year basis.
Individuals receiving food stamp benefits declined to 47.03 million which, as a ratio of the overall civilian non-institutional population now stands at a whopping 19.07% of the population.
Households receiving food stamps benefits declined by 150,238 to 22.9 million households with the current total falling 0.49% below the level seen a year earlier
Total nominal benefit cost declined 8.41% on a year-over-year basis to $5.92 billion for the month.
