“Kudlow” panelists Kevin Brady, Art Laffer and Sandra Smith discuss why “Bidenomics” isn’t being embraced by voters.
U.S. household wealth hit a new record at the start of 2024 thanks to soaring home prices. Stock MarketAccording to a Federal Reserve report released on Friday.
In its quarterly report on household and business balance sheets, the Fed announced that household net worth increased by about 2.9 percent, or $5.1 trillion, in the three months from January to March to reach a record high of $160.8 trillion.
That increase was driven primarily by a $3.8 trillion increase in the value of stocks held directly or indirectly through mutual funds, life insurance policies and retirement accounts. Year-to-date, the benchmark S&P 500 is up about 13%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 3.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index is up about 16% year-to-date.
White-collar workers struggling to find work as labor market slows
Value real estate Rising mortgage rates and tight supply have helped households add about $900 billion to their holdings of bonds, also a record, as prices rise further.
A man is walking in front of the New York Stock Exchange. (Spencer Pratt/Getty Images/Getty Images)
At the same time, consumers and businesses increased borrowing in the first quarter despite facing interest rates at their highest in 23 years.
Corporate debt grew at a 4% annual rate in the first quarter, driven by strong net bond issuance. Mortgage debt increased 2.1% and non-mortgage consumer credit increased 1.8%. Federal government debt increased 6.2% and state and local government debt increased 3%.
The findings follow a separate report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York which showed Americans’ debt will rise in early 2024, with more households falling behind on payments on multiple types of loans.
The Federal Reserve report found a significant increase in the number of borrowers struggling to make payments on credit cards, student loans and auto loans. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images/Getty Images)
In the first three months of 2024, Total household debt The total outstanding balance reached a record high of $17.69 trillion, up $184 billion, or 1.1%, from the previous quarter. The increase was driven mainly by a sharp increase in mortgage balances, which rose $190 billion from the previous quarter to $12.44 trillion as of the end of March.
The report also showed a significant increase in the number of borrowers struggling to make payments on credit cards, student loans and auto loans.
Click here to get FOX Business on the go
As of March, about 3.2 percent of outstanding debt was in some stage of delinquency, up from 3.1 percent in the previous quarter but still below the average of 4.7 percent for the fiscal year ending March 2010. COVID-19 pandemic Delinquency, particularly the shift to serious delinquency – 90 days or more past due – increased across all debt types.
“Serious delinquency rates for credit card and auto loans continued to rise across all age groups in the first quarter of 2024,” said Joel Scali, regional economic director for the New York Fed’s household and public policy research division. “We are seeing an increase in borrowers falling behind on their credit card payments, exacerbating financial hardship for some households.”
