More than 46 million people, or about 15 percent of the US population, lived below the official poverty level in 2011, according to the US Census Bureau. A new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that the “working poor” account for 10.4 million of this number, or nearly a quarter of all those living in poverty according to government guidelines.

The statistics revealed by the BLS report are a stunning indictment of the current state of the US economy and demonstrate how the so-called recovery is playing out in the everyday lives of workers and their families. Corporations, backed by the policies of the Obama administration and both big business parties, have seized on the jobs crisis in the wake of the recession to drive down workers’ wages and boost productivity.

Despite being employed for at least 27 weeks out of the year, individual and household earnings still placed large numbers of US working families below the poverty line in 2011. The overall rate of working poor has climbed significantly since before the recession, rising from 5.1 percent in 2006 to 7 percent in 2011.

The 2013 federal poverty guideline (FPG) is already set absurdly low: $11,490 annually for an individual and $23,550 for a family of four. A worker as the sole earner in a four-member family would need to earn $11.32 an hour and work 40 hours a week to top the FPG. Many of the jobs created in the wake of the recession barely reach this hourly rate, and occupations expected to see the most growth in the coming period will pay even less.

More than 14 percent of the estimated 25 million part-time workers currently in the labor force are classified as working poor, according to the BLS, compared to 4.2 percent of full-time workers. Working women, African Americans and Hispanics, as well as young workers and those with lower levels of education, were also more likely to be poor. Families with children under age 18 were about four times more likely to live in poverty than those without children.

The BLS report shows that 3.3 million service workers fell below the official poverty level in 2011, accounting for nearly one-third of all those classified as working poor. More than 15 percent of all women in service occupations, as well as 24.8 percent of black women in service jobs, were among this group. In construction-related occupations, 10.6 percent were employed but poor; 17 percent of those working in fishing, farming and forestry were living below the poverty guidelines.

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