Economic progress stalls for North Carolinians

September 19, 2008

The poverty rate rose and the number of uninsured in North Carolina jumped sharply over the last seven years, even as the economy as a whole expanded over the same period, an analysis of new census data shows.

The period 2000 to 2007 saw no change in median annual income, which remained steady at $44,670 after adjusting for inflation, says the analysis by the N.C. Justice Center.

During this time, the number of people living below the federal poverty level in North Carolina rose to 14.3 percent from 13.1 percent.
The number of people without health insurance jumped to 17.2 percent in 2006-2007 from 15.1 percent two years earlier.

The number of uninsured children has risen steadily in the last eight years to 12.1 percent.

"The failure of the last economic expansion to benefit working households is troubling and leaves them ill-prepared to weather today's downturn," Louisa Warren, policy advocate at the Justice Center, says in a statement.

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