The Census Bureau released new poverty and income data on Tuesday morning, drawing on results from the 2013 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements. The data is used to calculate the official poverty rate in the U.S., as well as to track how changes in the economy — such as in the employment prospects of workers — impact the incomes of American households, and the differences between them. We'll drill down further into the new numbers today, but here are the major takeaways:

The poverty rate declined to 14.5 percent



U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1960 to 2014 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

The official poverty rate declined from 15 percent in 2012 to 14.5 percent in 2013, although the number of Americans living in poverty remained statistically unchanged for the third year in a row. That's largely because of population growth. Poverty is now starting to tick down as unemployment declines, and as more workers, who held at best part-time jobs in 2012, find full-time employment. Between 2012 and 2013, Census counted 2.8 million net new full-time workers in the United States, with many of those jobs marginally improving the prospects of families that had been living below the poverty line.

The poverty rate, however, is still 2 percentage points higher than it was in 2007, before the start of the recession.

As a result, the child poverty rate dropped for the first time since 2000



Note: Data for people aged 18 to 64 and 65 and older are not available from 1960 to 1965. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1960 to 2014 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

This is a big deal and a statistically significant change (from 21.8 percent in 2012 to 19.9 percent). The recent news doesn't look quite as good for older Americans, although their rate is statistically unchanged from 2012.

Median household income hasn't budged much, but at least it's no longer falling



Note: Income rounded to nearest $100. The difference between the 1999 and 2007 median household incomes is not statistically significant. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1968 to 2014 6 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

Nationwide, the change in real median household income wasn't statistically significant from 2012 to 2013. Households still haven't recovered all of the income losses they suffered during the recession, with the median income still 8 percent lower in 2013 than it was in 2007, on the eve of the housing collapse. Hispanic households, however, saw a 3.5 percent increase in incomes over the last year, the only group with a statistically significant change:



Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1968 to 2014 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

Over the last 40 years, incomes at the bottom and median have stayed largely flat



Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1968 to 2014 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

Because of this, income inequality has grown over the same time



Note: Change in data collection methodology in 1993. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1968 to 2014 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

There was no significant change in income inequality between 2012 and 2013. The equivalence-adjusted Gini takes into account the fact that the same household income goes farther (or less far) for households of different sizes.