US Household Wealth Falls Record $5.1T

Combined five-quarter drop is nearly as big as US GDP for 2008

By Nick McMaster

Posted Mar 12, 2009 2:19 PM CDT

Copied

US Household Wealth Falls Record $5.1T — A sign standing in the front yard of a house in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on Feb. 20, 2009, has been reduced by $95,000. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

The wealth of US households fell at a record pace in the last quarter of 2008, as drops in home values and stock prices accelerated, Bloomberg reports. Net worth for households and non-profits fell $5.1 trillion to $51.5 trillion, nearly twice the decline between the second and third quarters. The current net value of household wealth is at the lowest level in 4 years.

Since hitting a peak value of $64.4 trillion five quarters ago, household wealth has fallen steadily for a combined drop of $12.8 trillion, figures from the Federal Reserve showed. That’s almost as big as US GDP in 2008, which was $14.2 trillion.

Read These Next

11 people hurt in a "brutal act of violence" in Michigan.
We knew Letterman would pipe up about Colbert eventually.
A parent's nightmare, in a white cardboard box.
Now we know why Ghislaine Maxwell may have opened up to the DOJ.

Report an error