http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/29snapcurrpp.htm
And at the very bottom it states this
May and June 2012 data are preliminary and are subject to significant revision.
So not only do unemployment numbers get revised, but SNAP numbers do as well.
I feel like we're all looking at a Monet up close and we won't know what the real picture looks like until we can stand back far enough away to see it.
The only problem with that is, these are human lives we're talking about, not art, and standing back far enough, is the equivalent of decades further into the future of time, and when involving human lives, the view from decades back, is entirely to late, to stop what's unfolding now.
Updated: I did find out that the figure released by the Gov is a household figure. All members in the household unit are counted as 1.
When you look at the census count figure of 330 million people, and you figure on the lessor side of 3 member per house hold, almost half if not better than (due to the least number of members per household used)people in the United States no longer have a viable income to enable the survival of their family.
That my friends IS THE BIG PICTURE, and monthly that picture expands.
Following a brief period in which it seemed that US foodstamp recipients may have peaked, with those living in poverty maxing out at 46.514 million in December 2011, and then declining modestly for the next few months, June saw a new surge in those Americans living in poverty and thus eligible for foodstamps, with 173,600 new entrants into the system, bringing the total to a new all time high of 46.670 million and once again rising fast. Furthermore, with subsequent emergency events affecting the heartland due to the drought, the administration has made sure even more Americans will be eligible going forward. As a result expect the July and August numbers to promptly surpass 47 million on their way to the psychological resistance level of 50 million. Indicatively, the 173,600 increase in Foodstamps recipients in June was three times greater than Americans finding jobs (64,000, most of which part-time) according to the BLS. Finally, a new record was also breached for American households on foodstamps, which now hit 22.4 million, an increase of 106,298 households. The average benefit per household decline once more, this time to $276.5. Not an all time low, but just above it.Persons on Foodstamps
