WASHINGTON — The poverty rate declined slightly last year for the first time since 2006, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, but there was no statistically significant change in the number of poor people or in the income level of the typical American household.
Overall, the bureau said, 14.5 percent of Americans were living in poverty last year, down from 15 percent in 2012. In addition, it said, the poverty rate for children younger than 18 declined for the first time since 2000.
Charles Nelson, a Census Bureau official, said an increase in the number of people working full time year-round was partly responsible for the decline in the poverty rate. In particular, he said, there was an increase in full-time, year-round employment among adults in households with children.
The bureau estimated that 45.3 million people were living below the poverty level in 2013. This did not represent a statistically significant change from the estimate for 2012, the bureau said in its annual report on income and poverty. Poverty thresholds vary with the size and composition of a family. A family of four was classified as poor if it had income less than $23,830 last year; for one person, the threshold was $11,890.
Poverty levels are updated each year to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index. The official income figures do not reflect the value of noncash benefits like food stamps and Medicaid.
Census officials said that while income inequality did not change in a statistically significant way from 2012 to 2013, inequality has increased substantially in the past two decades. The most common measure of household income inequality, known as the Gini index, has increased 4.9 percent since 1993.