She was having a difficult time paying $630 a month in rent with the $6 an hour she earns at a temporary construction job in Provo. She also pays for school and a sitter for her two preteen boys.

So as a last resort, the single mom turned to the Utah Community Action Partnership Association earlier this month for help to pay for part of her rent.

"Some days I felt like I was going crazy because I worked but couldn't pay the bills," said Shawn, who feared repercussions at work and asked to use only her first name. "If I hadn't asked for help, I would be on the street with two little boys."

She is not alone.

While the the unemployment rate in Utah is at a historic low of 2.9 percent, the poverty level is continuing a slow rise, according to a data book released by the association Wednesday. It said Utah's poverty rate has increased from 9.4 percent to 10.2 percent in the past five years.

The report is intended to assist lobbyists and others who might try to solve poverty-related problems though legislation, said Heather Tritten, the association's executive director.

"We don't include any recommendations," Tritten said. "But we do want to bring attention to the fact that there are poor people in Utah."

The average family of four is considered poor if it has an income of $20,650 or less, according to poverty guidelines released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this year. According to the report, 11 out of the 29 counties in Utah had poverty rates above the national rate, which is 13.3 percent. San Juan County was noted as one of the nation's poorest counties, with a poverty rate of 31.4 percent.

It notes U.S. Census research shows most Utahns living at a low income are white, but minority groups are over-represented in poverty. That research shows 29.4 percent of American Indians and Alaska natives in Utah are living in poverty.

The report also found that the cost of housing, rent and health care has increased dramatically. For example, Salt Lake County home prices have increased 77 percent in the past ten years.

Meanwhile, the wait time for housing assistance has extended to up to five years.

That statistic is very real to people like Shawn.

She has been on a waiting list for two years for assistance for affordable housing. For now, she lives with her two children in a two-bedroom apartment that was advertised as low-income housing, which she said she still cannot afford.

While the average wage needed for such an apartment in Utah is $13.04 an hour, she is currently earning less than half that.

"It's really tough to pay the bills and feed my kids," she said. "Some days I just want to cry and pull my hair out, but it has to be done because my kids have to have a better life."

abreton@sltrib.com