A report by the Federal Reserve revealed that the wealth of United States households increased compared to last year’s figure, says US News. After suffering from a significant fall in 2018, US household wealth finally surges back up by 4.5% toward the end of March compared to December 2018 numbers.
With this increase, America’s household riches are now $108.6 trillion. This also affected the value of corporate equity owned by American families, which grew by 12%.
In 2018, the net worth of US families fell by over $3.7 trillion toward the end of the year, according to USA Today. This occurred alongside the sudden plunge of the stock market. USA Today notes that the fall in the stock marker hurt American households’ fortunes.
The fall broke the 12-quarter streak recorded since the third quarter of 2015. By the end of 2018, the total net worth amounted to $104.3 trillion, showing a 3.5% fall compared to the 2018 third-quarter figures. On the other hand, there was a 2.9% increase in household debts.
The American financial market suffered from a steep fall last year because investors were wary about the cooling down of the global economy. Tensions in international trade relations and anticipation of increased interest rates by the Fed also contributed to this.
The Fed clarified that the rate surge remains ‘on hold.’ This resulted in the growth of equity prices. However, US News remarked that prices have been fluctuating during the past month. This is due to the Trump government’s warnings to intensify the trade war with China and increase taxes on Mexico.
Meanwhile, the federal report revealed that American consumers still show an increase in borrowing activities. This grew by 2.3% annual rate or %15.7 trillion in the first few months of 2019.
