Charleston, W.V. (AP) -- The number of Appalachian residents living in poverty is expected to fall slightly.

But anti-poverty experts say the slight improvement should be short-lived as wages drop, the job market weakens and household expenses rise.

The U.S. Census Bureau plans to release figures tuesday on income, poverty and health insurance coverage from 2007.

In 2006, America's poverty rate was 12.3 percent, down from 12.6 percent the year before.

Economist Jared Bernstein at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., says 2007 was probably as good as it gets for awhile.

Appalachia includes all of West Virginia and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)