US household wealth ticks up 1.4 per cent to $94.8 trillion
WASHINGTON — Buoyed by higher stock prices, Americans’ household net worth rose 1.4 per cent to $94.8 trillion in the first three months of this year, a trend that could support future spending.
U.S. stock and mutual fund portfolios jumped $1.3 trillion in value in the January-March quarter, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. Home values increased $499 billion.
Total household wealth includes checking and savings accounts, and subtracts mortgages and other debt. Unlike some other economic measures, household wealth has fully recovered from the Great Recession and gone far beyond pre-recession levels.
The proportion of American adults with jobs, for example, remains nearly three percentage points below where it stood in December 2007, when the recession began. And average hourly pay is rising more slowly than it was before the downturn.