Poverty numbers grow

Detroit Free Press: That's how many people in America live in poverty, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. The poverty rate, now 12.1 percent, rose in 2002 for a second straight year, the first time that has happened in a decade. The Census report showed that while poverty is less pervasive in Michigan, 10.5 percent, it also rose more sharply here than almost any other state, while household income fell much more.
The poverty threshold is annual income of $18,392 for a family of four; $9,183 for an individual.
If you're among the one in eight living below that level, there is no comfort in the knowledge that your sector of the economy is growing. Misery may love company, but poverty just wants to get away from it. And there's not much hope in the economists' latest catchphrase, "jobless recovery."
Better news?
If you're in the administration of President Bush, you prefer to focus on better news: Consumer spending was up during August, along with disposable income, byproducts of the latest federal tax cuts. A report last Friday showed a quarterly gain of 3 percent in the gross domestic product, the nation's output of goods and services. Things are getting better, they say.
Not in Michigan, where, during the past two years, the number of families on welfare has risen by 10,000 and food stamp requests have gone up by 125,000.
True, the poverty rate has been higher in recent recessions. But it has always declined with job creation in the ensuing recovery. That element has so far been lacking in this recovery, which is now -- theoretically -- 9 months old.