The city and county of Los Angeles are showing strong signs of improvement after a wrenching recession early this decade, as poverty has begun to decline and median household incomes are on the rise, according to Census Bureau data released Tuesday.

Median household income in the county rose 6.3 percent from 2005 - to $51,315 - while the percentage of residents living in poverty dropped from 16.3 percent to 15.4 percent last year.

The county improvements, mirroring similar gains in the city and statewide, also are expected to be reflected in the San Fernando Valley when Census Bureau figures for the region are released.

"This is good news," said Daniel Flaming, president of the Economic Roundtable, a nonprofit, public-policy research organization in Los Angeles. "It seems to suggest this period of slow, steady growth has been good for (people) on the bottom rung."

Still, the county's economic gains haven't been much consolation for Rosa Garcia, a Glendale hotel housekeeper trying to raise two children on just more than $12,000 a year.

Paying $750 a month for a one-bedroom apartment and an additional $150 for utilities, Garcia usually taps out her $1,300 monthly budget buying groceries and just a few other items.

"The economy is so bad," Garcia said. "Everything is so expensive. We don't make enough to live better."

Jessica Goodheart, research director at Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, a nonprofit agency that supports low-wage workers in L.A., said the positive economic news can't obscure the magnitude of L.A.'s poverty.

There are 1.5 million county residents - about 703,000 in the city - living under the federal definition of poverty, with more than double that number struggling to pay for the basics, according to LAANE.

`Poverty' Defined

Last year, the poverty level for a family of four was set at $20,444; for a single mom with two children, at $16,242.

But Eduardo Martinez, an economist with the nonprofit Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., noted that job creation throughout the Southland has driven some growth.

Last month, the county's unemployment rate was 4.8 percent, compared with 5.3 percent statewide.

"The county's unemployment has been below or equal to the state's in 16 of the last 17 months," Martinez said.

While much of the recent economic growth in the county has been in higher-paying jobs - including business consulting, accounting and technology - those wage earners have spent more in the economy, helping lower-wage earners as well.

"Some of the money is trickling down," Martinez said.

Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project, a nonpartisan public policy research group in Sacramento, said the data show progress for low- and middle-income Californians five years into an economic expansion.

"For much of the recovery, the benefits of economic growth failed to trickle down to many Californians," Ross said. "The figures released today show that low- and middle-income Californians are beginning to experience long-overdue gains."

Slight Improvement

The city of Los Angeles - with deep pockets of poverty from South and East Los Angeles to Pacoima - continued to trail the county as a whole, with median household income climbing just 4.2 percent, to $44,445.

Poverty in the city declined just a fraction - from 20.1 percent to 19 percent.

Bruce Ackerman, president and chief executive of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, said the Valley - which has historically had lower levels of poverty and higher median household income - is continuing to experience economic growth.

"Unemployment is at record lows in the Valley at about 4.2 percent," Ackerman said. "Our calls from businesses asking for qualified people are up during the last year and a half, indicating businesses are expanding and having a tough time finding people."

About 12.9 percent of Valley residents were living in poverty in 2005, while median household income was $51,700.

Fewer Poor in Valley

The Valley also has more closely followed the rest of California, where the percentage of people in poverty dipped from 13.3 percent in 2005 to 13.1 percent last year, and median household incomes climbed from $53,629 to $56,645.

Nationwide, median household income climbed to $48,200 last year - the second consecutive year of real growth - while the poverty rate declined for the first time this decade - from 12.6 percent to 12.3 percent.

Still, that means about 36.5 million people are living in poverty, and the new Census Bureau data also found that people without health insurance rose from 44.8 million to 47 million.

But local economists cautioned that the data might not tell the entire story, partly because what the federal government defines as the poverty level is relatively low, and many families just above it are in financial trouble, too.

Los Angeles' high cost of housing and other essentials also might have forced some of the county's poorest to move to cheaper markets, such as the Inland Empire, or out of the state entirely.

"The bottom line is it's pretty tough to get by in Los Angeles," Martinez said.

The current recovery also could be quickly eroded as the construction boom slows and hits some of the region's most vulnerable families first, Flaming said.

"In human terms, it means families are doubling up, or living in overcrowded housing; they don't have enough to eat, or they have to choose between food and clothing, and health insurance," said Goodheart of the LAANE organization.

"It means making choices no one should have to make."