Food stamp use soars in South Carolina

By Rick Brundrett | The Nerve

Gov. Nikki Haley wasn’t bashful when news broke that the state’s unemployment rate had fallen to 5.3 percent in April – the lowest rate in 13 years, as proudly noted by the Republican governor.

“This kind of progress says a lot about our state, our workforce, and all the businesses that call South Carolina home that continue to grow and find success here,” Haley said in a prepared statement following the announcement by the state Department of Employment and Workforce.

But Haley, who took office in January 2011, hasn’t talked publicly about a set of not-so-good economic numbers involving a different Cabinet agency.

From fiscal years 2009 through 2013, the average monthly number of S.C. residents receiving food stamps – a federal program administered in South Carolina by the state Department of Social Services – skyrocketed to 875,866 from 687,508, a jump of 188,358, or 27 percent, U.S. Department of Agriculture online records show.

at The Nerve.