American households were $2 trillion richer on June 30, 2009 than they were three months earlier, the first time in two years that household net worth has increased, the Federal Reserve recently reported.
Household wealth rose in the second quarter at a 17% annual rate, or $2 trillion, to $53.1 trillion after falling at a 13% rate in the first quarter, the Fed said.
It was the first time since the second quarter of 2007 that wealth had increased. Net worth is down $12.2 trillion from the peak in 2007, an indication of how much the collapse in stock prices and home prices have hurt.