PORTLAND - The ranks of the poor and uninsured in Oregon are growing, while typical incomes in the state have dropped $3,000 since the late 1990s, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released Thursday.

"We're three whole years into the downturn, and we aren't seeing incomes starting to recover," said Mike Leachman, policy analyst with the Oregon Center for Public Policy, a think tank that studies issues affecting low-income people. "Oregon workers have been waiting more than three years for a recovery."

The report, based on a survey earlier this year, does not reflect this year's job gains, which the Bush administration has touted as a sign the economy is in an upswing.

Nationally, the report showed growing poverty, declining income and increasing numbers of uninsured people over the past three years. Supporters of presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry are already citing the report as evidence of the failure of President Bush's economic policies.

The statistics are about typical for a post-recession period, according to Census Bureau analyst Dan Weinberg.

In Oregon, the two-year average for median household income in 2002 and 2003 was $42,199, the census figures showed, down from $42,825 the year before. That decline was within the survey's margin of error, meaning that statistically incomes have remained flat since last year.

Over a longer period, however, the drop was indisputable. Oregon median incomes dropped $3,000 from a peak of $45,100 in 1999 and 2000, the figures showed.

The census bureau released two-year averages to ensure statistical accuracy. The report released Thursday, "Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States," was based on small surveys in each state, rather than the nationwide head count the bureau conducts every decade that provides a more precise picture of America's population.

Oregon had the highest unemployment rate in the nation for much of the three-year period covered in Thursday's census report, accounting for part of the decline. Other reasons for the dwindling pay were the disappearance of high-tech jobs, which were replaced by lower-paying service jobs, and a decline in the average number of hours worked per week, said Art Ayre, state labor economist.

The average work week has dropped by about one hour since 2000, he said.

In other results, the report showed the number of people in Oregon lacking health insurance has increased from 13.3 percent to 14.8 percent, one of the sharpest increases in the nation.

Championed by former Gov. John Kitzhaber, the Oregon Health Plan was designed to ration care while expanding coverage for the working poor. Uninsured rates declined in the late 1990s as the program gained traction, before a fiscal crisis in 2001 forced cuts.

The census figures showed Oregon's poverty level growing by 0.4 percent compared to the previous year, but the increase was not considered statistically significant. About 400,000 people live in poverty in Oregon, according to the figures.

The Census Bureau's definition of poverty varies by the size of the household. The threshold for a family of four was $18,810, while it was $12,015 for two people.