Poverty rate down as employment improves
WASHINGTON – The poverty rate in the United States has dropped for the first time since 2006, bringing a bit of encouraging news about the nation’s economy as Congress gears up for midterm elections.
The U.S. Census Bureau, in its annual look at poverty in the United States, said that the poverty rate in 2013 was 14.5 percent, down from 15 percent in 2012. The decrease in the poverty rate was attributed to the growth in year-round employment by 2.8 million jobs in the United States, government officials said.
The median household income for families was $65,587 in 2013, and $31,178 nonfamily households, which also was not statistically different from the 2012 levels. However, census officials said that income is 8 percent less than it was in 2007, the year before the United States entered the recession.
NASA picks companies to shuttle astronauts
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA is a giant step closer to launching Americans again from U.S. soil.
On Tuesday, the space agency picked Boeing and SpaceX to transport astronauts to the International Space Station in the next few years.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden named the winners of the competition at Kennedy Space Center, next door to where the launches should occur in a few years.
“I want you to look behind me,” Bolden said, pointing both thumbs to the big, bright logos. “I’m giddy today, I will admit.”
Associated Press
