Low-income Americans may finally be feeling some benefit from the booming economy, according to U.S. Census Bureau reports showing the poverty rate dropping to its lowest level since 1979.
The percentage of Americans living on income below the poverty line dropped from 12.7 percent in 1998 to 11.8 percent in 1999, according to new statistics. And median household income reached $40,816 – the highest level ever recorded.
The Census Bureau reports used $17,029 in annual income as the average poverty threshold for a family of four. For a family of three, the poverty line was $13,290.
According to the report, 2.2 million fewer people were poor in 1999 than in 1998 – 32.3 million vs. 34.5 million.
The 1999 poverty rates for nonwhites set or equaled historic lows, the report showed. The rate for African Americans, 23.6 percent, was the lowest recorded by the bureau.
The percentage and number of poor declined in the Northwest and West but remained unchanged in the South and Midwest. (ABP)
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