U.S. Poverty Rate Rises to 12.7 Percent

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 30, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) --The nation's poverty rate rose to 12.7 percent of the population last year, the fourth consecutive annual increase, the Census Bureau said Tuesday.

Overall, there were 37 million people living in poverty, up 1.1 million people from 2003.

The last decline in overall poverty was in 2000, when 31.1 million people lived under the threshold -- 11.3 percent of the population.

The number of people without health insurance grew from 45 million to 45.8 million. At the same time, the number of people with health insurance coverage grew by 2 million last year.

The increase in poverty came despite strong economic growth, which helped create 2.2 million jobs last year.