A new report released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday indicates that the poverty rate in the United States remained constant between 2011 and 2012, while other socioeconomic indicators pointed to major, continuing problems for the nation’s poor.

According to the Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2012 report, the median household income in the United States in 2012 was $51,017.  The bureau noted that this was “not statistically different in real terms from the 2011 median of $51,100,” and that the 2012 figures followed “two consecutive annual declines.”

The 88-page report also noted that the poverty rate in the United States for 2012 remained the same to last year’s figures at 15 percent, or 46.5 million people living at or below the poverty line.

In comparison, the 2007 poverty rate was near 12.5 percent.

The percentage of Americans without health insurance also declined to 15.4 percent, a 0.3 percent decline from 2011.  The report said that nearly 48 million people were without health coverage in 2012.

“Poverty and income numbers are a metaphor for the entire economy,” Ron Haskins, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute said in a blog post on Tuesday. “Everything’s on hold, but at a bad level: poverty and income did not change much in 2012.”

“Don’t expect things to change until the American economy begins to generate more jobs.”

The report also highlighted data on household income based on race, particularly Hispanic origin, and regional income.  Hispanic households did not see any statistically significant differences in their real median household income between 2011 and 2012.

The West and the Northeast regions of the United States also reported the highest median incomes.

The entire U.S. Census Bureau report can be viewed here.

Reach Executive Producer Colin Hale here. Follow him on Twitter.