US Household wealth has fallen by a record amount in Q2 2022, according to Reuters. Household wealth fell by a record $6.1 trillion in the second quarter.
Household net worth fell to $143.8 trillion at the end of June. It originally sat at $149.9 trillion at the end of March, marking its second consecutive quarterly decline. According to a Federal Reserve report observed by Reuters, as of June, Americans’ collective wealth had fallen by more than $6.2 trillion from a record $150 trillion at the end of 2021,
The Household net worth drop broke the previous record by around $30 billion. That record was set during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Q2 2020. A $7.7 trillion decline in stock market values led to the most recent household wealth drop. With the bear market affecting values for most of 2022, inflation and the Fed continue to battle. The Fed has continued to raise interest rates multiple times over the past months.
Total nonfinancial debt rose at a 6.5% annualized rate after rising at an 8.3% rate in the first quarter, the Fed data shows. Reuters also shares that household debt growth also slowed to a 7.4% annual rate from 8.3% in the first three months of the year.