US Demographic Changes Hint at Economic Recovery

Posted September 20th, 2012 at 11:25 am (UTC-5)
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A new survey of changing population trends in the U.S. suggests that the country's sluggish economy could be advancing from the depths of the recession several years ago.

Unemployment is still high in the United States — more than 8 percent for 43 straight months. But a report Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau said Americans are becoming more mobile again, with more than 36 million people moving to new homes last year, and that fewer young adults are living with their parents.

Population experts suggested that both trends indicated more confidence in the economy.

In another similar sign, the decline in the number of new births in the U.S. has slowed. The total was down 55,000 last year to 4.1 million. But the 1 percent drop was the smallest since the recession began in 2008.

Other data from the report shows that many Americans are struggling in the weak economy, the world's largest. Even as the pace of people moving to new residences picked up in 2011, the national home ownership rate dropped to under 65 percent, its lowest point in more than a decade. Nearly 15 million American households claimed government food stamps to help them buy groceries, the biggest total ever.

The government says that a record of more than 46 million people live below the poverty line in the U.S., about 15 percent of its population.