PYMNTS-MonitorEdge-May-2024

Fed Data Shows Household Worth Up To $136.9 Trillion, Debt Climbs 6.5 Pct In Q1

The net worth of households and nonprofits grew to $136.9 trillion for the first quarter of this year, according to a statistical release from the Federal Reserve.

That comes along with the value of directly and indirectly held corporate equities boosted $3.2 trillion, the release stated. The value of real estate, meanwhile, rose $1 trillion.

The outstanding domestic nonfinancial debt hit $62 trillion in first quarter, and that type of debt expanded by 5.8 percent at an annual rate in Q1 this year. That’s a decrease from 6.3 percent from the last quarter, according to the release.

Meanwhile, household debt reached $16.9 trillion, rising by 6.5 percent at an annual rate for the first quarter, the release stated.

Consumer credit was up as well at an annual rate increase of 3 percent. Mortgage debt, not counting charge-offs, was up 5.4 percent, according to the release.

In May, the Fed found that around 1 in 4 Americans was in a worse place financially than they had been a year prior, PYMNTS reported. That ended up being a large increase from the previous year, with the number then being 14 percent total.

“This increase occurred broadly across the population, and likely reflects economic distress resulting from the pandemic,” the Fed said at the time.

The May report found that this might also be an indicator of how individuals think they’re doing, as 75 percent of adults said they were doing “OK” or “living comfortably” enough, which hadn’t changed from 2019.

However, diving deeper into the numbers, there were significantly more layoffs. Overall, 16 percent of adults with less than a college degree were laid off, compared with 11 percent of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree.

Meanwhile, the U.S. household net worth hit new levels by the end of 2020, reaching $130.2 trillion amid rising stock prices, real estate and more, canceling out the losses from the pandemic, PYMNTS reported.

PYMNTS-MonitorEdge-May-2024