Poverty Rate Plummets

For the third consecutive year the nation's poverty rate dropped across racial and ethnic groups reaching the lowest level in two decades. "This made 1999 the third consecutive year in which the nation's poverty rate declined, to 11.8 percent from 12.7 percent the year before. The rate still does not match the 1973 low of 11.1 percent. The nation's booming economy pulled 2.2 million people above the poverty line, which is $17,029 for a family of four."

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan