MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Poverty rate and number of millionaires in the US soaring

43 million poor, 51 with no health insurance and 5.6 millionaire households

The poverty rate in the United States rose for the third straight year, reading 14.3% in 2009 (one in seven), up from 13.2% a year earlier. More than 43 million people are living in poverty and almost 51 million have no health insurance coverage.

The level of poverty in the US is the highest since 1994 and “the number of people in poverty in 2009 is the largest number in the 51 years for which poverty estimates are available.”

The bureau defines poverty as any family of four living on less than 21,954 USD a year.

The bureau's report, Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the US: 2009, covers President Barack Obama's first year in office. It indicates Americans of Asian origin are the richest, while black people are the poorest.

In a statement, Mr Obama said the report “illustrates just how tough 2009 was”.

According to RealtyTrac Inc., the number of home foreclosures in the United States in August hit the highest monthly level since the beginning of the crisis in the industry. Banks foreclosed on more than 95,000 homes, an increase of 3% from July and 25% from a year earlier.

While millions are unemployed and living in poverty, the number of millionaires is rising again. “After downsizing in number through the market turmoil of mid-year 2007 to mid-year 2009, Wealth Market households rebounded at mid-year 2010,” Phonex Marketing said in a report.

“Recording an 8% growth rate from 2009 from the strength of increases in the equity markets, Wealth households now number nearly 5.6 million in the U.S.”

As for all affluent families - that covers those with at least 250,000 USD in invest able or liquid assets or 150,000 USD in household income - Phoenix noted that “despite enormous volatility in the economy and stock markets, the broad affluent market in the U.S. has managed to register small gains in numbers over the past five years, and now number nearly 25 million households.”

The study also showed the number of people in the U.S. without health insurance rose to more than 50 million in 2009, from 46.3 million in 2008, the first increase in the uninsured since the bureau began collecting insurance data in 1987.

The Census Bureau's director of Housing and Household statistics, David Johnson, says it is likely the number of uninsured increased because of people losing employer-based health insurance when they lost their jobs or changed to part-time work.

The median household income in the U.S. in 2009 was 49,777 USD, showing no statistical change from 2008.