U.S. household wealth eked out a fresh record high at the end of 2024, Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday, thanks to a stock market rally that appears to have run out of steam in the past three weeks.
The net worth of households and non-profit groups rose about $200 billion to $169.4 trillion in the fourth quarter of last year, the U.S. central bank said in its quarterly U.S. financial accounts report, as a drop in the value of real estate trimmed gains from equities.
Stock market holdings, the biggest component of household net worth, rose about $300 billion to $56 trillion in value, while household real estate, the second-biggest component, fell about $400 billion to $48.1 trillion.
The S&P 1500 Composite index, which encompasses the vast majority of the U.S. stock market, gained 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2024. It has lost nearly $4 trillion in value since President Donald Trump's January 20 inauguration and about $2.7 trillion since this year began.
The report offers a snapshot of the broad financial health of U.S. families, businesses and the public sector at the end of former President Joe Biden's administration. During the final full quarter of 2025, household debt grew at a 3.1% annual pace, in line with previous quarters, while non-financial sector business debt rose just 1%, the slowest pace in a year.
Federal government debt, which Trump hopes to reduce in part by slashing government payrolls and spending, expanded at a pace of 8.4%, while state and local government debt shrank 1.4%.
Source: reuters.com
