economic report shows poor hit hard

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 Jan 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. recession is shaping up to give Americans their hardest economic times since World War Two.

A new assessment of the economy was presented on Wednesday by the Congressional Budget Office, the non-partisan budget analyst for Congress.

Here are some of CBO's observations on the impact of the bad economy on the poor, elderly and others, one year into the recession:

* More people need food stamps. Government spending on food stamps, designed to help the poor buy basic commodities, will grow by 27 percent this year. CBO said spending will hit $50 billion, from $39 billion last year, mostly because of growing caseloads and benefits as food prices have risen. A record 31.5 million people were signed up for food stamps last September, according to government records.

* Unemployment rolls are growing. Washington's spending on jobless benefits will nearly double, to $79 billion this year from $43 billion last year. CBO thinks the jobless rate will rise to 9.2 percent next year, from around 6.7 percent now.

The number of unemployed and action by Congress last year that extended benefits during the hard economic times are causing the additional spending. Some Democrats in Congress want to take further steps to expand unemployment benefits, possibly covering part-time workers who lose their jobs.

* Medicaid is expanding. The federally backed health insurance program for the poor was growing in cost even before the recession because of rising health care costs generally. But rising unemployment means more people qualify for Medicaid, CBO said.

* Retirees won't get a raise in 2010. A contracting global economy means less demand for consumer goods, including oil, which means lower prices. That can help consumers during hard economic times. But it also means lower annual cost-of-living adjustments for seniors collecting Social Security retirement checks. CBO anticipates no Social Security cost-of-living raise next year. This would come as retirees' private savings have been hit hard by the stock market bust and low interest rates paid by banks on savings accounts.

* Home foreclosures rise. Mortgage foreclosures stemming from risky adjustable loans jumped to 7 percent by early 2008, from an eight year average of 2 percent. CBO said foreclosure rates are likely to remain high as house prices continue to fall. "Many homeowners have negative equity in their homes ... and will not be able to refinance their mortgage."