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U.S. Census Shows Illinois Poverty Rate Growing
CHICAGO (AP) -- New data shows about 240,000 more Illinoisans lived in poverty in 2008 compared with 2000 and researchers say those statistics don't fully reflect the current recession.

According to U.S. Census data made public Tuesday, the state's poverty rate was 10.7 percent in 2000 and jumped to 12.2 percent in 2008.

The median household income in Illinois dropped from $60,203 in 2000 to $56,235 in 2008.

That's compared with the national rate of about 13.2 percent, an 11-year high.

The poverty rate, a set of federal measures, means that a four would live on $21,200 or less.

A researcher for the Chicago-based Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty says the released data show only the initial effects of the downturned economy.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
09 28 09 by Newsroom
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