Despite a recession and high unemployment rate during the past decade, the percentage of Americans living just above the poverty level has actually decreased since the 1960s — a potential reflection of the surge in the number of people who have slipped below poverty levels since the recession.

The first U.S. Census Bureau report on the near-poor, released Thursday, shows that 14.7 million people, or 4.3 percent, had family incomes between 100 percent and 125 percent of the poverty level, down from 6.3 percent in 1966.

“The percent of people in near-poverty does not fluctuate with business cycles the way poverty does,” said Trudi Renwick, branch chief of the Census Poverty Statistics Branch. “We found that in at least more recent years, the same number of people are coming in and out of living near poverty.”

For those living in or near poverty, educational attainment matters. Those with a high school diploma or less had higher poverty rates than those with some college. About 10 percent of those with less than a high school diploma live just above poverty level, compared with 1.6 percent of college graduates. But in a tough economic climate, and as more people go to college, even degrees may not help: 12 percent of people living near poverty have at least a college degree.

The national poverty rate shot up from about 12 percent before the recession to 15 percent, extending lines at food banks.

Alfonzo Gimenez is 48, divorced, and takes care of a mentally challenged son. He sells cleaning materials and toiletries on the street — mostly products from 99-cent stores — but for almost three years he has come every Thursday to Ananda Marga of L.A., a food pantry near Los Angeles’ Crenshaw and Pico boulevards.

His street-vending business: “Too slow.”

Racial divides are clear with the near-poor. About 76 percent of people living barely above the poverty level are white, slightly below their national representation (79 percent of U.S. residents are white). But even though blacks represent 13.2 percent of the overall population, they make up almost 18 percent of the near-poor.

The poor are more likely to be working or looking for work (47.4 percent) than those just above the poverty line (40.8 percent).

That number could be affected by the growing number of elderly who are scraping by but are not in the labor force, Renwick said.

“The near-poor are more likely to get the earned income tax credit,” she said, pointing out that 20.7 percent of the near-poor are eligible. “Only 16.7 percent of the poor are eligible, partially because of the structure. You need to have earnings in order to qualify.”

The report came out on May 1, International Workers’ Day, with rallies around the world. In Los Angeles, thousands of people arrived downtown for the annual May Day marches to support immigrant rights, closing several streets until evening.