June 25, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Rate of working poor rises in 2001

The percent of persons in the labor force for 27 weeks or more who were classified as working poor rose from 4.7 percent in 2000 to 4.9 percent in 2001. This was the first year-to-year increase since 1993 and reflected the impact of the recession that began in March 2001.

Poverty rate, persons in the labor force for 27 weeks or more, 1992-2001
[Chart data—TXT]

The poverty rate of those working 27 weeks or more during the year rose from 6.3 percent in 1992 to a series high of 6.7 percent in 1993. Then this poverty rate declined steadily for seven years, reaching 4.7 percent in 2000. 

These data were collected in the 2002 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey. For more information see A Profile of the Working Poor, 2001, Report 968 (PDF 327K).

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