BRIDGEPORT, CT - SEPTEMBER 30: Chairs are stacked against the wall at a soup kitchen inside the Bridgeport Rescue Mission September 30, 2009 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Due to a surge in people using their services, the mission has stated that they will not have enough food to meet all requests for food assistance this week. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Connecticut residents fell into poverty at a rate higher than any other state in the country last year. While statistically it is still one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are now 314,806 residents of Connecticut living below the federal poverty line, up from 268,880 in 2007. In Bridgeport, a struggling former manufacturing city, the poverty rate was 21.6 percent. Getty Images logo Getty Images 1 month ago

BRIDGEPORT, CT - SEPTEMBER 30: Chairs are stacked against the wall at a soup kitchen inside the Bridgeport Rescue Mission September 30, 2009 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Due to a surge in people using their services, the mission has stated that they will not have enough food to meet all requests for food assistance this week. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Connecticut residents fell into poverty at a rate higher than any other state in the country last year. While statistically it is still one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are now 314,806 residents of Connecticut living below the federal poverty line, up from 268,880 in 2007. In Bridgeport, a struggling former manufacturing city, the poverty rate was 21.6 percent.

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  1. Merchandise is restocked under the rain at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. Retail sales in the United States fell 1.5 percent in September, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday.
  2. BRIDGEPORT, CT - SEPTEMBER 30: People walk by housing in a struggling section of town September 30, 2009 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Connecticut residents fell into poverty at a rate higher than any other state in the country last year. While statistically it is still one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are now 314,806 residents of Connecticut living below the federal poverty line, up from 268,880 in 2007. In Bridgeport, a struggling former manufacturing city, the poverty rate was 21.6 percent.
  3. BRIDGEPORT, CT - SEPTEMBER 30: A woman walks by a shuttered business September 30, 2009 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Connecticut residents fell into poverty at a rate higher than any other state in the country last year. While statistically it is still one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are now 314,806 residents of Connecticut living below the federal poverty line, up from 268,880 in 2007. In Bridgeport, a struggling former manufacturing city, the poverty rate was 21.6 percent.
  4. BRIDGEPORT, CT - SEPTEMBER 30: A man walks by a closed downtown bank September 30, 2009 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Connecticut residents fell into poverty at a rate higher than any other state in the country last year. While statistically it is still one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are now 314,806 residents of Connecticut living below the federal poverty line, up from 268,880 in 2007. In Bridgeport, a struggling former manufacturing city, the poverty rate was 21.6 percent.
  5. BRIDGEPORT, CT - SEPTEMBER 30: Paul Conway, who sells newspapers, said 'people are sucking wind' when asked about his customers financial well being September 30, 2009 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Connecticut residents fell into poverty at a rate higher than any other state in the country last year. While statistically it is still one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are now 314,806 residents of Connecticut living below the federal poverty line, up from 268,880 in 2007. In Bridgeport, a struggling former manufacturing city, the poverty rate was 21.6 percent.
  6. BRIDGEPORT, CT - SEPTEMBER 30: Drew Hall stands in the door of his struggling hip-hop themed business September 30, 2009 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Connecticut residents fell into poverty at a rate higher than any other state in the country last year. While statistically it is still one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are now 314,806 residents of Connecticut living below the federal poverty line, up from 268,880 in 2007. In Bridgeport, a struggling former manufacturing city, the poverty rate was 21.6 percent.
  7. BRIDGEPORT, CT - SEPTEMBER 30: Tom Popper, who is homeless, waits for the Bridgeport Rescue Mission to open on September 30, 2009 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Connecticut residents fell into poverty at a rate higher than any other state in the country last year. While statistically it is still one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are now 314,806 residents of Connecticut living below the federal poverty line, up from 268,880 in 2007. In Bridgeport, a struggling former manufacturing city, the poverty rate was 21.6 percent.
  8. BRIDGEPORT, CT - SEPTEMBER 30: Chairs are stacked against the wall at a soup kitchen inside the Bridgeport Rescue Mission September 30, 2009 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Due to a surge in people using their services, the mission has stated that they will not have enough food to meet all requests for food assistance this week. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Connecticut residents fell into poverty at a rate higher than any other state in the country last year. While statistically it is still one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are now 314,806 residents of Connecticut living below the federal poverty line, up from 268,880 in 2007. In Bridgeport, a struggling former manufacturing city, the poverty rate was 21.6 percent.
  9. BRIDGEPORT, CT - SEPTEMBER 30: A shelf in the food pantry at the Bridgeport Rescue Mission is nearly empty after an surge of residents using the mission`s facilities on September 30, 2009 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Connecticut residents fell into poverty at a rate higher than any other state in the country last year. While statistically it is still one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are now 314,806 residents of Connecticut living below the federal poverty line, up from 268,880 in 2007. In Bridgeport, a struggling former manufacturing city, the poverty rate was 21.6 percent.
  10. BRIDGEPORT, CT - SEPTEMBER 30: Nicholas Piellucci unpacks food pantry donations to the Bridgeport Rescue Mission September 30, 2009 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Due to a surge in people using their services, the mission has stated that they will not have enough food to meet all requests for food assistance this week According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Connecticut residents fell into poverty at a rate higher than any other state in the country last year. While statistically it is still one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are now 314,806 residents of Connecticut living below the federal poverty line, up from 268,880 in 2007. In Bridgeport, a struggling former manufacturing city, the poverty rate was 21.6 percent.
  11. BRIDGEPORT, CT - SEPTEMBER 30: People enter a fast food restaurant advertising inexpensive meals on September 30, 2009 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Connecticut residents fell into poverty at a rate higher than any other state in the country last year. While statistically it is still one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are now 314,806 residents of Connecticut living below the federal poverty line, up from 268,880 in 2007. In Bridgeport, a struggling former manufacturing city, the poverty rate was 21.6 percent.
  12. BRIDGEPORT, CT - SEPTEMBER 30: A shelf in the food pantry at the Bridgeport Rescue Mission is nearly empty after an surge of residents using the mission`s facilities on September 30, 2009 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Connecticut residents fell into poverty at a rate higher than any other state in the country last year. While statistically it is still one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are now 314,806 residents of Connecticut living below the federal poverty line, up from 268,880 in 2007. In Bridgeport, a struggling former manufacturing city, the poverty rate was 21.6 percent.
  13. BRIDGEPORT, CT - SEPTEMBER 30: Drew Hall (L) and his father, also Drew Hall, open their struggling hip-hop themed store September 30, 2009 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Connecticut residents fell into poverty at a rate higher than any other state in the country last year. While statistically it is still one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are now 314,806 residents of Connecticut living below the federal poverty line, up from 268,880 in 2007. In Bridgeport, a struggling former manufacturing city, the poverty rate was 21.6 percent.

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