August saw a 5.3% increase in food stamp costs to $7.5 billion, the most since government pandemic support stopped in March.
The price of food stamps, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, had been declining. The states discontinued emergency benefits implemented throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a $7.14 billion increase in the expenses of the federal SNAP program since July 2023, from $11.01 billion in December 2022.
Although the August data was early, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the increase might be connected to state-provided disaster assistance.
In the country, there were 41.8 million food stamp users in August compared to 41.3 million in July.
Center Square received an e-mail from a SNAP official explaining that 3 different kinds of disaster benefits could affect the monthly amounts of SNAP benefits.