The poverty rate in metropolitan Pittsburgh climbed more sharply in 2008 than in the city, state or for the nation as a whole, according to U.S. Census Bureau data being released publicly today.

For the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, poverty increased from 11.2 percent in 2007 to 11.9 percent in 2008.

The bureau's American Community Survey data could reflect the extent to which the national recession began catching up last year with a region that weathered it relatively well initially. But even with the larger increase, the seven-county region's poverty rate of 11.9 percent was below that of either Pennsylvania (12.1), the United States (13.2) or the city of Pittsburgh (21.2).

Overall, the new data showed increased poverty and food stamp use across the board, as just one more statistical snapshot of recent hardships among households. The information comes from surveys of 3 million households across the country conducted throughout 2008.

Joni Rabinowitz, co-director of Just Harvest, a local anti-hunger, anti-poverty advocacy group, said, "I can only give small credence to the statistics, compared to the large number of people that call us every day, that never had to apply for public benefits before, and don't know anything about the food stamp system.

"Now they finally have a need, and have to apply for these programs, and they're scared and angry."

She had not yet seen the census data but noted that in August, the state Department of Public Welfare reported the biggest single-month increase in people receiving food stamps in recent years. Recipients in Allegheny County alone increased by 2,615, which she said was partly due to loosened eligibility by the state government.

The census data said that in 2008, 17,370 city households, 93,894 in the region, 437,768 in the state and 9.8 million nationally were receiving food stamps.

While the Census Bureau's American Community Survey estimated only modest increase from 13.0 to 13.2 percent in the national unemployment rate, the federal government uses another measure for the official poverty rate nationally. The official rate, from the Current Population Survey, spiked from 12.5 percent in 2007 to 13.2 percent last year, much closer to the Pittsburgh region's 6.3 percent surge in the ACS estimate.

An Associated Press examination of the new census data nationally pointed to a widening economic gap between the richest and poorest Americans. It found the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans earn 11.4 times the roughly $12,000 made by those living near or below the poverty line in 2008. That disparity was the largest yet.

"No one should be surprised at the increased disparity," said Richard Freeman, an economist at Harvard University. "Unemployment hurts normal workers who do not have the golden parachutes the folks at the top have."

More information is available at www.census.gov by clicking on the American FactFinder section of the home page.

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