Net worth for households and non-profit groups rose by $1.5 trillion in the fourth quarter, or 1.9 percent from the previous three months, to $82.9 trillion, the Federal Reserve said Thursday from Washington in its financial accounts report, previously known as the flow of funds survey.
Record stock prices and steadily increasing home values have made U.S. households wealthier as the economic expansion lumbered on. While faster job growth and low fuel prices also have helped lower-income households, bigger wage gains will strengthen balance sheets further.
“The recovery is broadening its reach -- it’s not just hitting the upper-level of income distribution but starting to help a broader segment of the population, and that’s some good news,” said Dana Saporta, a U.S. economist at Credit Suisse Securities USA in New York. At the same time, “credit is flowing much better now.”
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