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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2002

American Indians and Alaska Natives suffer from the highest poverty rates in the nation, the Census Bureau reported on Tuesday.

Based on three-year average, nearly one-quarter of all Native Americans lived below the poverty level. The rate was more than two times the national average (11.7 percent), according to Census figures.

But Native Americans were the only group to have seen a drop in poverty. While rates for whites (7.8 percent), Hispanics (21.4 percent), Asians (10.2 percent) and African-Americans (22.7 percent) were at record lows, they all saw increases from 2000 to 2001.

A related trend emerged for income levels in the United States. Median household income dropped 2.2 percent nationwide, with white, Hispanic, Asian and African-American families all seeing statistically significant declines.

Asian income, for example, dropped 6.4 percent from 2000 to 2001 -- a loss of $3,678 -- the Census Bureau reported.

On the other hand, the three-year average for Native Americans failed to change much. The median income was $32,116, still far below the national average of $42,228 and trailing most racial and ethnic groups -- except for African-Americans at $29,870.

The rise in poverty and drop in income, the first in nearly a decade, was tied to the advent of a recession in the economy. "Like the increase in poverty, the decline in real median household income between 2000 and 2001 coincided with the recession that started in March 2001," said Daniel Weinberg, chief of the Census Bureau's Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division.

Indian Country was largely shielded from the changes -- mostly due to less than complete statistics. The Census Bureau uses averages and cautions against multi-year comparisons based on data limitations.

Reservations and Indian communities still remain mired in poverty, federal officials acknowledge. The Bureau of Indian Affairs last week held an economic development summit aimed at combating high rates of poverty, unemployment and other poor conditions.

"It is unconscionable to have islands of poverty in a nation enjoying great prosperity," Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb said.

Yesterday's statistics came in two reports: "Poverty in the United States: 2001" and "Money Income in the United States: 2001." They were based on a supplemental survey conducted by the Census Bureau.

Nationwide, the Census Bureau said there were 800,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives living below the poverty level. The "threshold" for a family of four in 2001 was $18,104 in annual income; compared with $14,128 for a family of three; $11,569 for a family of two; and $9,039 for unrelated individuals.

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