One million more Americans sign up for food stamps in only a year

A homeless man named Bob waits for donations from passing motorists.(AFP Photo / Spencer Platt)

Source: Russia Today

The number of Americans going to the government for assistance has once again hit a new high. More than 46 million Americans are now enrolled in the federal welfare food stamps system, more than double the amount from only a decade earlier.

The latest statistics made available by the United States Department of Agriculture reveal that more Americans than ever before are enrolled in the social welfare program, with numbers from the month of July 2012 indicating that the current roster of recipients amounts to 46,681,833 persons.

The newest figures indicate that enrollment continues to surge, with around one million more people receiving benefits now than just a year earlier. Last year, RT reported that the number of persons enrolled in the food stamps system consisted of roughly 45 million, or 15 percent of the country’s population.

By comparison, only 31.98 million people were receiving assistance in January 2009 when US President Barack Obama took office, indicating an increase of roughly 15 million in less than four years. Halfway through George W Bush’s first term, that statistic was only 19.1 million.

Republican lawmakers have pounced on the latest news and say that the Agriculture Department is openly advertising the program to non-citizens, making federally funded assistance appealing to those who do little to contribute to the country’s resources.

"USDA has engaged in an aggressive outreach and promotional campaign to boost food stamp enrollment. Among these efforts are an ongoing partnership with the Mexican government to advertise food stamps to Mexican nationals, migrant workers, and non-citizen immigrants. Partly as a result of these efforts, the number of non-citizens on food stamps has quadrupled since 2001," representatives from the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee fire back.

"Total spending on food stamps is projected to reach nearly $800 billion over the next 10 years, with no fewer than 1 in 9 people on the program at any given time. Neither food stamp participation nor spending on the program are ever projected to return to pre-recession levels at any point in the next 10 years,” the lawmakers add according to a report published in The Weekly Standard.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney also blamed the left for the skyrocketing numbers, attacking Pres. Obama during this week’s televised debate over his food stamps record.

Tackling a question about the American economy during Tuesday night’s arguments, Gov. Romney remarked, “How about food stamps? When [Obama] took office, 32 million people were on food stamps. Today, 47 million people are on food stamps.”
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2012 Oct 19

US welfare spending up 32% in last 4 years

People wait in line to enter the Northern Brooklyn Food Stamp and DeKalb Job Center, Friday, Feb. 24, 2012 in New York. The state of the nation's economy is a dominant issue in this presidential election year. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Source: Press TV

New figures show a dramatic hike in welfare spending in the United States over the last four years.

Based on a study conducted by Congressional Research Service and the Senate Budget Committee, welfare spending reached $746 billion in 2011, growing over 30 percent during the Obama presidency.

The report was requested by Senator Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. Townhall.com

HIGHLIGHTS

Federal spending on more than 80 low-income assistance programs reached $746 billion in 2011, and state spending on those programs brought the total to $1.03 trillion, according to figures from the study. Washington Post

That makes welfare the single biggest chunk of federal spending - topping Social Security and basic defense spending. Washington Post

Welfare spending as measured by obligations stood at $563 billion in fiscal year 2008, but reached $746 billion in fiscal year 2011, a jump of 32 percent. Washington Post

What’s also shocking to find is that Medicaid, which is only one of several programs under the welfare umbrella, accounts for $296 billion of that federal spending. That’s 40% of total spending on low-income assistance; back in 2008 that number was only $82 billion. Townhall.com

Facts and Figures

The cost of living in the U.S. rose in September for a second month, reflecting a jump in energy expenses that failed to trickle through to other goods and services. Business Week

The consumer-price index increased 0.6 percent for a second month, the Labor Department reported in Washington. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a 0.5 percent advance. The so-called core measure, which excludes more volatile food and energy costs, climbed 0.1 percent, less than projected. Business Week

Meanwhile, more Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, reflecting an unwinding of adjustments for seasonal swings at the start of a quarter. Bloomberg

Jobless claims increased by 46,000 to 388,000 in the week ended Oct. 13 from a revised 342,000 the prior period that was the lowest since February 2008, Labor Department figures showed. Bloomberg

The overall pace of the recovery of the U.S. economy will remain too slow in 2013 to make a dent in the unemployment rate, according to a National Association for Business Economics survey released Monday. Market Watch

Professional forecasters expect economic output to grow just 1.9% during the last part of 2012, rising steadily to 3% in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to the survey by the association for professional economists. That is a slight downgrade from the pace of growth expected in the group's May 2012 survey, when economists forecast 3.1% growth by the end of next year. Market Watch

US Fed: Economic recovery too slow

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155517.html


The US Federal Reserve has announced that the country's economic recovery is too slow to reduce joblessness, so it will keep the massive spending plan intact to provide stimulus to the economy.

The Federal Reserve issued a statement on Tuesday that due to shallow improvement in US economic data it will stick to its commitment to pump another $600-billion of cash into the economy and keep interest rates close to zero indefinitely, AFP reported.

The central bank's policymakers said the recovery was too weak to reduce lofty unemployment, the main challenge to getting the world's largest economy back on track, and inflation trends were worryingly weak.

But signs that American consumers are buying again and the prospect that the US Congress will extend Bush-era tax cuts means the central bank may not have to use all of its monetary tools to keep the US economy afloat.

"Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met in November confirms that the economic recovery is continuing, though at a rate that has been insufficient to bring down unemployment," the FOMC said in a statement at the last meeting of the panel in 2010.

The FOMC left the key federal funds rate target at rock bottom levels between zero and 0.25 percent, the figure which has not changed since December 2009 in an attempt to support recovery.

The policy was endorsed by all but one member of the FOMC.

Japanese companies' confidence falls

Toyota Motor Corp. reduced production in October as government's stimulus programs ended, file photo

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155519.html


Confidence among Japanese manufacturers has worsened for the first time since the end of the global economic downturn last year, a Bank of Japan survey showed.

According to the survey, which was released on Wednesday, the index of confidence at large manufacturers has undergone a fall since December and is expected to deteriorate over the next three months.

The index showed a dip from 8 in September to 5 in December and is expected to plunge to a new low of minus 2 in March, making companies more cautious about business conditions.

The decline is due to a slowdown in exports and also the government's failure in resuming stimulus programs. Meanwhile it is difficult to measure the level of domestic demand.

The government's subsidy program to buy fuel-efficient cars ended in September, forcing companies including Toyota Motor Corp. to reduce production in October.

"The outlook for big firms and manufacturers felt a little weak," Reuters quoted Yoshiki Shinke, senior economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute, as saying.

"The BOJ ( Bank of Japan) is likely to stick with its current status for a while ... Rather than economic indexes, the trigger (for further easing) is likely to come from the market, such as stocks falling greatly or the yen strengthening even more due to overseas events," he added.

The authorities at the Bank of Japan are planning to examine the survey next week, but the central bank has delayed making improvements in its monetary policies to lessen the problem.

US private sector cuts 10,000 jobs

The August private sector layoffs the worst in the past seven months


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/140906.html


The private sector in the United States has cut 10,000 jobs in August to underscore a weakening labor market, the ADP Employer Services says.

The drop last month represented the first monthly decline since last December, while it failed to meet economists' estimates that recruiting would edge higher.

Most experts had predicted 13,000 jobs to be created.

"The decline in private employment in August confirms a pause in the recovery already evident in other economic data," ADP said, AFP reported.

"The deceleration in employment was evident in the major sectors and by size of business."

ADP said over those six months, from February to July, the monthly gain in employment on average was 37,000 with no indication of acceleration.

"Today's report brings clearly disappointing news for the labor market," said Natixis analyst Thomas Julien.

The data provided by ADP is closely monitored as a foreshadower of Friday's government non-farm payrolls figures, which are expected to show that the US economy axed 131,000 workers.

It, however, is expected to show an increase of 42,000 employees in the private sector.

US stocks fall over growth concerns

US stocks have once again plunged amid new fears of a
double-dip recession

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/140689.html

US stocks have plunged with a triple-digit point decline as investors lost confidence over figures showing a slowdown in the country's economic recovery.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 141 points at closing on Monday. The Nasdaq Composite also fell 33.66 points, or 1.56 percent, to 2,119.97. The technology-heavy index has so far dropped 6% this month.

Concerns have also increased as a series of gloomy reports, due to be released later this week, are expected to show that the US economic recovery is slowing down in the second half of the year.

Shares fell further after US President Barack Obama failed to address economic concerns. In a recent speech, he said that he and his economic team had looked at ways to reinforce the economic recovery, including tax cuts for businesses, but did not provide an action plan.

The new discouraging data adds to August losses, with one trading session left in the month.

Last week, US stocks fell sharply as fears grew over the recovery of the world's leading economy, after a report showed a considerable drop in existing homes sales.

The moves came after the US National Association of Realtors reported a 27 percent month-on-month drop in existing homes sales to their lowest level in 15 years in July.

Bank of Japan holds emergency meeting

A security guard is seen through a link in a chain fence outside the
Bank of Japan building in Tokyo


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/140558.html


The Bank of Japan is holding an emergency meeting to decide on easing monetary policy in an effort to curb a surging yen amid mounting political pressure.

"Today... the chairman of the Policy Board decided to call an unscheduled monetary policy meeting," Japan's central bank said in a statement on Monday.

The strength of the Japanese currency has battered the country's already fragile economy as political pressure is mounting on the bank to ease its monetary policy.

The news sent Japanese stocks soaring, with the Nikkei 225 stock average rising by 3.1 percent to stand at 9,265.39 points.

The government usually doesn't intervene in foreign exchange markets, but Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has warned that Tokyo will take decisive action when necessary.

Kan's economic team is expected to hold another meeting on Monday to decide the basic thrust of steps to help the fragile economy.

The rise in the yen has hurt Japan's export-driven economy, making Japanese products more expensive aboard.

It is also threatening to delay the country's exit from deflation. The yen hit a fresh 15-year high against the dollar last week.

40 Million Americans live on food stamps

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/140656.html


record number of people are living on government handouts in the US, as one out of six Americans now gets various anti-poverty supports, including food stamps.

A survey of state data by daily USA TODAY released on Monday showed that more than 50 million Americans are on Medicaid -- the federal-state program designed mainly to help the poor. That is an increase of at least 17 percent from December 2007, when the economic recession started.

"Virtually every Medicaid director in the country would say that their current enrollment is the highest on record," said Vernon Smith of Health Management Associates.

Government data for May indicates that the number of the people getting food stamps has surged to 40 million, a rise of almost 50 percent during the economic downturn.

Compared with 2007, nearly 10 million receive unemployment insurance, which shows a 4 percent rise.

Meanwhile the number of the people who are on welfare program has grown to 4.4 million, an 18 percent increase during the recession.

According to the report, the steady growth in safety-net programs is mainly due to the recession that has increased the number of the people who are qualified to get support under existing rules.

Economists divided over US Fed policy

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/140634.html


The latest survey by National Association for Business Economics reflect a division between economists over ways the US government should stimulate the economy.

In the NABE's semiannual survey in August, 60 percent of economists surveyed believed that the US economy is threatened by deflation in the short run and inflation in the long run.

Concerning fiscal policy, the respondents said the federal government should take action to promote employment growth before reducing the US deficit, Market Watch reported on Monday.

Analysts say the low pace of growth means unemployment will cloud over the US economy well through 2011.

A relative majority of the respondents supported extending individual income-tax cuts, enacted under President George W. Bush, which is scheduled to expire at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, about a third of the respondents were in favor of expiring tax cuts on higher-income individuals and households.

Latest data painted a grim picture for the US economy in the months to come.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at a smaller-than-expected 1.6 percent rate from April to June. Moreover, unemployment rate remains at almost 10 percent, home sales are plummeting and consumers are spending less.

Pressure to Close Anglo Irish Bank

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/140701.html


The Irish government signaled on Monday that gradually winding down Anglo Irish Bank could be an option as political pressure mounts on Prime Minister Brian Cowen to deal with a national millstone.

Propping up Anglo Irish left Ireland with the biggest budget deficit in the European Union last year.

With the costs continuing to climb and no final bill in sight, the premium investors demand to hold 10-year Irish bonds rather than Bunds neared record highs again on Monday.

"What we are not saying is that there can be an immediate shutdown of Anglo, that is still by far the most expensive option," Green Party Chairman Boyle told public radio RTE.

Anglo Irish is moving half its loan book to Ireland's state "bad bank" scheme, the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA).

"Management in Anglo Irish is both trying to cooperate with NAMA and promote this idea of a good bank which I think is dividing their attentions," Boyle said.

Ireland should collaborate with the European Commission and the European Central Bank to make sure a wind-down of Anglo would not endanger other Irish banks and the ability of Ireland itself to borrow.

US on verge of yet another recession?

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/140132.html


The US economy may be on the verge of yet another recession as the government Wednesday announced a decline in manufacturing activity and the weakest rate of new home purchases in almost 50 years.


Earlier this week, it was announced that sales of previously occupied homes fell last month to the lowest level in 15 years.

Meanwhile, unemployment remains near double digits because job growth in the private sector has slowed, AP reported.

Economists are predicting the government will announce Friday that the economy grew from April to June even more slowly than previously thought, at an annual rate below 2 percent - weak for normal times and especially anemic right after a recession.

"The odds of a double-dip are rising and uncomfortably high," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, referring to the possibility that the nation will tip back into recession. "Nothing else can go wrong. There is no cushion left."

Housing has never fully recovered from the recession. Builders have been forced to compete with foreclosed properties offered at sharply lower prices.

According to government figures, in July the sales of new homes fell 12.4 percent in compared to a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 276,000, marking a drastic decline from the annual sale of nearly 600,000 new homes from 1983 through 2007.

The July pace was the slowest in at least 47 years. The past three months have been the worst on record.

Weak housing sales spell fewer jobs in the construction industry, which normally powers economic recoveries. On average, each new home built creates the equivalent of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

The industry received some help in the spring when the government offered tax credits to homebuyers. However, since the tax incentives expired in April, the number of people looking to buy homes has dropped, even with bargain prices and the lowest mortgage rates in decades.

For the average US household the rate of economic growth may not matter much. The two indicators that do matter are the unemployment rate, stuck at 9.5 percent, and home values, which have sunk about 30 percent from their 2006 peak.

Der Spiegel: US middle class vanishing

This file photo shows members of a group called 'The Other 95 Percent' hold
a rally to thank US President Barack Obama for their middle class tax cuts as a
counter-protest to anti-tax groups rallying on the National Mall in Washington April 15, 2010


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/139522.html


The American middle class is on the verge of disappearing, while the United States, itself, is in danger of becoming a third world country, a leading German newspaper says.

According to an article appearing in the German newspaper, Der Spiegel, the negative consequences of the global financial crisis include a widened social class rift and the elimination of the middle class in the US.

The article states that many Americans are beginning to realize that the American Dream has now become a nightmare as people are having to face the bitter reality of a shrinking job market along with decades of stagnating wages and dramatic increases in inequality.

More than a year after the official end of the recession, the overall unemployment rate remains consistently above 9.5 percent. But this is just the official figure. When adjusted to include the people who have already given up looking for work -- or are barely surviving on the few hundred dollars they earn with a part-time job and having to use their savings to supplement their income -- the real unemployment figure jumps to more than 17 percent.

In its current annual report, the US Department of Agriculture notes that "food insecurity" is on the rise, and that 50 million Americans were unable to buy enough food to remain healthy at some point last year. One out of every eight American adults and one out of four children now survive on government food stamps. These are unbelievable numbers for the world's richest nation

Last week, leading online columnist Arianna Huffington issued the almost apocalyptic warning that “America is in danger of becoming a Third World country.”

In a recent cover story titled “So Long, Middle Class," the New York Post presented its readers with “25 statistics that prove that the middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence in America.”

US new jobless claims hit 500,000

It was the third straight week that US first-time jobless claims were on the rise

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/139368.html

The number of new jobless claims filed last week in the United States rose unexpectedly to half a million, marking the highest record in nine months.

It was the third straight week that first-time jobless claims were on the rise, suggesting that the US private sector may report a net loss of jobs in August for the first time this year, the Associated Press reported.

US Labor Department said on Thursday that initial jobless claims rose by 12,000 last week reaching 500,000.

The fall of activities in the housing sector has led home builders and construction firms to lay off more workers. The government is also reducing the number of its employees to help reduce the budget gap.

"The rise in initial jobless claims over the past three weeks makes it difficult to maintain confidence in the recovery and suggests the labor market is backtracking more than we first expected," AP quoted Ryan Sweet, an economist at Moody's Analytics, as saying.

In July, private employers added 71,000 jobs. However, the loss of 202,000 government jobs, including 143,000 temporary census positions, offset this increase.

Many analysts are worried that the US economic growth will retreat even further in the second half of 2010.

Los Angeles protests massive layoffs

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=138685§ionid=3510203


Union members and government workers have launched a demonstration in the US state of California, expressing their anger at the increasing number of layoffs.

The labor rally on Friday took place on the south lawn at Los Angeles City Hall, a Press TV correspondent reported.

According to the data provided by the California's Finance Department, the golden state lost nearly 900,000 jobs between 2008 and 2009.

The massive job loss is taking its first victims from among those on the Californian government pay roll, with their annual income depleting to a level unprecedented since after World War II.

"We're already really stressed, working so much overtime it's incredible,” a government employee told Press TV.

Mort Levi, another government worker, said the excessive layoffs are putting a strain on labor unions in California and across the country.

Levi said these cuts aren't logical because America's infrastructure is falling apart and the politicians seem unwilling to invest.

"There's work that can be done. It just needs the funding and the politicians have to come together and fund it but there are definitely things that can be done,” he said.

In the face of a 20-billion-dollar budget deficit, California is expected to eliminate more jobs.

The spiking unemployment has cost California an estimated 40 billion dollars in lost wages.

Experts say more jobs will be lost before any sort of recovery begins.

"There's 40 percent unemployment in the building trades on the whole in southern California. We need to put people back to work. That's what is going to build the economy back up, when people go to work," said Ron Miller, a labor expert.

Miller said that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has done nothing for workers during his two terms in office.

He said it appears that Governor Schwarzenegger is more worried about restarting his career in Hollywood than reviving California's economy.

“I think he's more interested in future endeavors then being governor. He needs to do his job and really it's a little bit too late for him to start doing his work,” Miller said.

US stocks fall on weakening recovery

The US Dow Jones closes lower for the third day


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=138494§ionid=3510213


Wall Street indexes continue to plunge as traders witness more signs that the global economy is slowing including a rise in the number of unemployment claims.

The blue chip index fell 58.88 points, or 0.57%, to 10319.95 on Thursday, adding to a 320-point drop over the prior two sessions as poor data on US weekly jobs and a fall in euro-zone industrial production added to investors' concerns about a possible double-dip recession, the New York Times reported.

New jobless claims announced on Thursday only added to the sour mood.

The US Labor Department said new unemployment claims hit a six-month high last week as 484,000 Americans signed up for jobless assistance.

These are the latest of several disappointing developments that included an acknowledgment by US Federal Reserve officials that the pace of recovery is likely to be more modest than anticipated.

Stock markets across the world sharply dropped on Thursday over growing fears about the slowing of global economic recovery and troubling financial news.

Europe's main stock markets tumbled as bourses in London, Frankfurt and Paris opened quite depressed.

The losses came after financial markets slumped in the US and Europe amid disturbing financial news.

On Thursday, shares in Tokyo dropped 2.02 percent and South Korean stocks plunged by 1.01 percent.

Stock markets in Sydney and Hong Kong also fell by 1.42 percent and 1.09 percent respectively in early Thursday trade.

US unemployment on the rise again

US economic recovery on a downturn as unemployment
claims rose in July



Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=137631§ionid=3510203


The US Labor Department has reported another rise in new claims for unemployment for the preceding week, underlining a persistently weak labor market.

The new figures, released Thursday is reflective of a slow growth in the American labor market, posing a challenge to the fragile economic recovery from its greatest downturn since the Great Depression.

Initial demand for US unemployment benefits rose 19,000 to 479,000, compared to market speculation of a drop to 455,000.

”While these numbers are volatile, we haven't really made progress in the labor market and that's kind of troubling when you think about the broader economic recovery,” said Andrew Gledhill, an economist at Moody's Economy.com.

"For the recovery to turn into a self-sustaining expansion, we need people to have wage income coming in and until that happens, we are still in a tenuous position," Gledhill added, quoted by Reuters.

The US government's monthly employment report, due on Friday, is expected to show that nonfarm payrolls fell 65,000 in July after waning 125,000 in June.

Private-sector payrolls are expected to rise a mere 90,000 and the unemployment rate is anticipated to rise to 9.6 percent from last month's 9.5 percent.

This month's economic figures will likely spell trouble for President Barack Obama's Democratic Party allies who face mid-term elections in November and risk losing their majority and control in the US Congress.

Obama's popularity has suffered a great deal as a result of the slow economic recovery in the US as well as a number of other issues, such as his inadequate response to BP's oil spill disaster and the failure to deliver on his repeated pledges of 'change' that helped him win the presidential election in 2008

US regulators close 3 more banks

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=132038&sectionid=3510203

The number of US banks shut down so far this year has risen to 86 as regulators close down three more banks in Florida, Georgia and New Mexico.

The newest bank failures in the US are expected to cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) a total of about $285 million.

In Florida, FDIC has announced that Peninsula Bank of Englewood has been closed, with $644.3 million in assets. Premier American Bank in Miami will assume the deposits of the failed institution, Reuters reported on Friday.

In Savannah, Georgia, the First National Bank has been shut down. It had about $252.5 million in assets. The Savannah Bank, has agreed to assume its deposits, the FDIC said.

In New Mexico, regulators have closed High Desert State Bank in Albuquerque, which had about $80.3 million in assets. First American Bank, in Artesia, New Mexico has agreed to assume its deposits.

Last year, US regulators closed down 140 banks compared with 25 in 2008 and three in 2007. FDIC expects this year's bank failures to exceed last year's tally.

The FDIC said this week that it expects bank failures to cost its insurance fund $60 billion from 2010 through 2014.

Even as an economic recovery buoys profits for big US banks, smaller banks continue to struggle with bad commercial real estate loans.