http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090611/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_net_worth Americans' net worth shrinks $1.33 trillion in 1Q
[image: AP]<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/brand/SIG=br2v03/*http:/www.ap.org> [image: Specialist Daniel O'Donnell, left, cups his ears to hear a trader on the floor]<http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/New-York-Stock-Exchange/photo/090610/480/2c50ea89b2fc43559cebc48518a9defd/s:/ap/20090611/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_net_worth> AP Specialist Daniel O'Donnell, left, cups his ears to hear a trader on the floor of the New York Stock By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer *Jeannine Aversa, Ap Economics Writer* 20 mins ago WASHINGTON American households lost $1.33 trillion of their wealth in the first three months of the year as the recession took a bite out of stock portfolios and dragged down home prices. The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that household net worth fell to $50.38 trillion in the January-March quarter, the lowest level since the third quarter of 2004. The first-quarter figure marked a decline of 2.6 percent, or $1.33 trillion, from the final quarter of 2008. Net worth represents total assets such as homes and checking accounts, minus liabilities like mortgages and credit card debt. The *damage to wealth* in the first quarter came from the sinking *stock market*. The value of Americans' stock holdings dropped 5.8 percent from the final quarter of last year. Another hit came from *falling house prices*. The value of household real-estate holdings fell 2.4 percent. Collectively, homeowners had 41.4 percent equity in their homes in the first quarter. That was down from 42.9 percent in the fourth quarter. The latest snapshot of Americans' balance sheets was contained in the Fed's quarterly report called the flow of funds. Despite the drop, the speed at which net worth shrunk slowed to start the year. During the *recession's deepest point* in the October-December period, Americans' net worth fell 8.6 percent, according to revised figures. With *wealth declining and unemployment rising*, there are questions about how consumers the lifeblood of the economy will behave in the coming months. If they continue to spend, even at a subdued pace, the recession likely will end this year as predicted by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and other economists. However, if consumers hunker down and cut spending again, that could delay any recovery. In the final quarter of last year, Americans slashed spending at an annualized rate of 4.3 percent, the most in 28 years. Still, there was some encouraging news on consumer spending Thursday. Retail sales rose 0.5 percent in May, following two straight monthly declines, the Commerce Department reported. Meanwhile, the number of newly laid-off workers filing for unemployment benefits fell last week by 24,000 to 601,000, the lowest level since late January. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Ingin bergabung ke milis ekonomi-nasional? Kirim email ke ekonomi-nasional-subscr...@yahoogroups.com http://capresindonesia.wordpress.com http://infoindonesia.wordpress.comYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ekonomi-nasional/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ekonomi-nasional/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:ekonomi-nasional-dig...@yahoogroups.com mailto:ekonomi-nasional-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: ekonomi-nasional-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
