Nearly 30 million people in the United States reported they did not have enough to eat last week, according to the US Census Bureau's weekly Household Pulse Survey data.
The survey data published Wednesday shows that about 29.3 million of 249 million respondents said they "sometimes" or "often" did not have enough to eat between July 16 and July 21, 2020. This means almost 12% of respondents reported they did not have enough food in the last week.
This is the highest number of people reported to have insufficient access to food since the census began the Household Pulse Survey 12 weeks ago in May.
The figures come when the economic output falls at its fastest pace on record, which has led to high unemployment rates, as coronavirus cases surges around the country.
The number of Americans filing new claims for state unemployment benefits totaled 1.43 million last week, the Labor Department reported.
With the federal moratorium on evictions and enhanced $600-a-week unemployment benefits both soon expiring, lawmakers are talking about approving an extension of federal benefits, but have not reached a deal yet.
