US poverty levels are likely to post a record increase for 2009, with the ranks of working-age poor approaching 1960s levels, according to the AP

Census figures for 2009, to be released in next week, will probably show a significant increase in poverty rates among US citizens to close to 15%

Nearly 45 million in the United States, or more than 1 in 7, were poor in 2009. This means the US will have its highest single-year increase in the poverty rate since the government began tracking poverty figures in 1959.

The previous high was in 1980 when the rate jumped 1.3 points to 13% at the height of the energy crisis.

Experts say the ranks of the working-age poor are approaching the levels of the 1960s which caused the beginning of the the national war on poverty.

Douglas A. McIntyre