Household Net Worth | featured news

Household heads ages 35 to 44 -- the group usually saddled with a mortgage and college-bound kids -- have watched their median net worth slump 59% from before the recession.

Americans' net worth receded as stock-market wealth declined, while anxious consumers continued to avoid debt in the second quarter.

The number of Americans expected to travel during the Labor Day weekend this year will rise 9.9 percent from 2009 as gross domestic product, household net worth and consumer confidence improved over the past year, travel and auto group AAA said Wednesday.

US households suffered a record-large 9 percent drop in wealth and pared debt in the fourth quarter as a deepening recession battered confidence and finances, Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday.