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To certify just how bad 2008 was for the economy, the Census Bureau issued its 2008 Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States report.

According to the report, household income fell sharply and poverty rates rose as the severe effects of the recession took their toll on Americans’ finances.

Median household income dropped 3.6 percent to $50,303, which was the sharpest drop since at least 1967 and sent income to its lowest point since 1997.

The new Census report paints a mixed picture of how Americans have fared with health insurance coverage during the recession.

The percentage of people without health coverage was unchanged last year at 15.4 percent, although the number increased to 46.3 million from 45.7 million in 2007. How people got health insurance, however, shifted significantly during the year as the burden fell increasingly on government. The number of Americans covered by private health insurance declined by 1 million in 2008, but that loss was outdone by a 4.4 million increase in the number of people getting health insurance from government programs such as Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor.

A number of other figures changed, and few for the better. Below is the full report from the Census Bureau.

Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008 -