WASHINGTON: The number of Americans living in poverty increased by 1.7 million last year, and the median household income declined by 1.1 percent, the Census Bureau reported on Oct. 3. The worsening economic conditions, down for the second year in a row, fell heaviest on Midwesterners and nonwhites. It was the second straight year of adverse changes in poverty and income, the first two-year downturn since the early 1990s.

The data, results of the Census Bureau’s annual Current Population Survey, the official barometer for measuring income and poverty rates, showed that lingering negative effects of the recent recession cut across a broad swath of the population. The official poverty rate rose to 12.1 percent in 2002 from 11.7 the year before, bringing the total number of people living below the poverty line to 34.6 million. The median household earned income fell $500 over the same period to $42,400. Per capita income declined by 1.8 in 2002 to $22,794, the first decline since 1991.

Daniel H. Weinberg, chief of the Census Bureau’s Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division, said the findings were consistent with the bureau’s expectations. Among racial groups African-Americans suffered the worst increases in poverty, after several years of economic progress in the 1990s.

The poverty rate among blacks rose to 24.1 percent from 22.7 percent a year earlier. Median income for blacks fell 3 percent. Other racial and ethnic groups also experienced significant decreases in median income, which declined 4.5 percent for Asians, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders and 2.9 percent for Hispanics, a group that President Bush been courting.

[For Asians and Pacific Islanders, the median household income declined from $54,488 to $52,291, which was the highest. The poverty rate for the group increased from 10.2 percent to 10.3 percent, which was the lowest.]

And though rates of poverty did not change significantly from 2001 for those under age 18 and over age 65, staying afloat was harder last year for people aged 18 to 64, the bulk of the work force.

The poverty threshold for a family of four is $18,392. For individuals the amount is $9,183. The percentage of people in severe poverty, those with incomes below half of the poverty threshold, increased to 14.1 million from 13.4 million.

(By Permission, The New York Times)