The National Council of Churches USA, in conjunction with the Fighting Poverty With Faith Interfaith Week of Action, released the following email action alert regarding the latest poverty figures released by the US Census Bureau:

"The U.S. Census Bureau announced on September 10th that real median household income in the United States fell 3.6 percent between 2007 and 2008, from $52,163 to $50,303. This breaks a string of three years of annual income increases and coincides with the recession that started in December 2007.

"The nation’s official poverty rate in 2008 was 13.2 percent, up from 12.5 percent in 2007. There were 39.8 million people in poverty in 2008, up from 37.3 million in 2007. Congress has now returned from their summer recess, and it is time for them to hear from you. Email your Senators and Representative NOW, and ask them to help low-income Americans during the “Great Recession” by advancing programs that invest in Good Jobs and Green Jobs. Ask your member of Congress to support extension of unemployment insurance benefits. It is expected that more than 1.5 million dislocated workers will run out of Unemployment Insurance benefits by the end of 2009 without Congressional action."