Sunday, September 19, 2010

Americans' Net Worth Falls Along With Stocks

U.S. households saw their wealth decline in the second quarter despite their efforts to save more money, underscoring the economy's struggle to recover from the recession.

The Federal Reserve reported Friday that household net worth—stocks, bonds, homes and other assets, minus mortgages and other debts—fell 2.8% to $53.5 trillion in the second quarter, driven by a sharp decline in the value of stock investments. The drop, the first since the darkest days of the financial crisis in early 2009, left average net worth at about $182,000 a person—though the average is pulled up by a small group of the very wealthy.

The numbers highlight the extent to which erratic financial markets are adding to the job troubles already weighing on consumers. While markets have rebounded somewhat in recent weeks, many people are keeping a lid on spending and focusing on repairing damaged nest eggs.

1 comment:

  1. Reading this I find it very interesting that may people are turning to saving money the "old-fashion way" by simply putting money in the bank and letting money collect intrest. If this forum of personal saving increases it will keep intrest rates down there as banks have more money to lend only giving the economy a greater ability to grow through investment.

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