贫困与复苏

Poverty and Recovery

在这次金融危机开始的第一年2008年，美国的贫困人口数量增长了170万，达到了近4750万。尽管情况十分严重，但鉴于经济形势如此，这一增幅并不令人感到惊讶。令人惊讶的是，最近的人口普查数据显示，尽管2009年的失业情况严重恶化，但贫困人口数量保持稳定。

In 2008, the first year of the Great Recession, the number of Americans living in poverty rose by 1.7 million to nearly 47.5 million. While hugely painful, that rise wasn＇t surprising given the unraveling economy. What is surprising is that recent census data show that those poverty numbers held steady in 2009, even though job loss worsened significantly that year.