U.S. Poverty Likely Rose in 2003, Income Gap Wider
/More Americans likely slid into poverty in 2003
and the gap between the rich and poor widened, economists said on
Thursday in a report that could fuel Democrat criticism of President
Bush. While the nation's official poverty rate will not be released
until next week, the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy
Research estimated 700,000 Americans were added to the ranks of the
poor last year, based on early numbers. That takes the number of poor
in the United States to about 36.4 million, from 35.7 million in 2002.The poverty line is set at an annual
income of $9,573 or less for an individual, or $18,660 for a family of
four with two children, according to the Census Bureau [more 
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