This post first appeared on FloatingPath
The number of Americans receiving assistance from the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), more commonly known as food stamps, decreased 0.75% in September, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports. This is the largest single month decline on record.
47.306 million people participated in the program in September compared to 47.665 million in August, which means that SNAP decreased by 359k people during the month. The decrease in September follows a 0.06% increase in participation in August.
The average monthly benefit received per person in September was $133.20, up from $133.06 in August. This means that the total cost of the SNAP program in September was $6.301 billion.