Even as the economy grew and the unemployment rate began to shrink, the number of Illinois households getting food stamps hit record levels in December, showing no signs of an economic recovery, and area food pantries say they've continued to see more people asking for help.
There were 857,282 households enrolled last month in what is now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly called food stamps. That was up 12.7 percent from a year earlier, according to figures provided to the Chicago Sun-Times by the Illinois Department of Human Services.
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