Thursday, September 16, 2010, 2:01pm MST
Number of poor, uninsured rise
Phoenix Business Journal
The number poor and uninsured Americans jumped last year. The U.S. Census Bureau reports there were 50.7 million Americans without medical insurance in 2009. That is up from 46.3 million in 2008. Nationally, 16.7 percent of Americans are now without coverage.
The poverty rate also climbed from 13.2 percent in 2008 to 14.3 percent in 2009. There were 43.6 million poor people in the U.S. in 2009 versus 39.8 million in 2008.
The recession and housing slump continue to hamper the national and Arizona economies resulting in jumps in poverty rates and those without insurance.