美國個人資產淨值上升 爲消費蓄勢

The net worth of Americans rose for the second consecutive time during the third quarter, the U.S. Federal Reserve said in a report Thursday that showed evidence of an important step towards restoring the spending power of U.S. consumers.

The Fed said total net worth of households increased 5.0% in the July-to-September period, to $53.42 trillion from $50.76 trillion in the second quarter.

Net worth is the value of assets such as homes, stocks and investments minus liabilities, including mortgages and credit cards.

The rise in wealth should help consumers--a key growth engine for the U.S. economy--to rebuild their finances and to start spending again. Still, household wealth remains well below the $65 trillion peak hit two years ago, before the recession began and before stock markets hit their high.

'Overall, this was an encouraging report, showing that households are repairing their balance sheets, thereby supporting future consumer spending,' said Michelle Meyer, economist at Barclays Capital.

The U.S. economy is slowly emerging from its worst downturn in decades. The economy expanded by an annualized 2.8% in the third quarter, the first increase in more than a year, lifted by higher consumer spending.

The Fed data showed financial assets July through September climbed 5.6%. Climbing stock market prices this year have fattened portfolios beaten by the Wall Street crisis in the autumn of 2008.

The Fed's quarterly 'flow of funds' data showed U.S. non-financial debt rose at a 2.8% annual rate July through September. It went up 4.5% in the second quarter.

Household net worth in the third quarter climbed to about 4.86 times disposable personal income, from a second-quarter ratio of about 4.63 times income.

U.S. household debt decreased at a 2.6% annual rate in the third quarter, the fifth drop in a row. Home mortgage debt slid 3.6% and consumer credit fell 3.2%.

美聯儲(Federal Reserve)週四報告顯示，第三季度美國人資產淨值連續第二個季度上升。這說明美國消費者朝着購買力的恢復邁出了重要一步。

美聯儲報告顯示，7-9月份，家庭資產淨值增長5%，從第二季度50.76萬億美元增長到53.42萬億美元。

資產淨值，是指房產、股票和投資等資產的價值減去房貸、信用卡等負債。

財富的上升，應有助於消費者重建財務、重啓消費，而消費是美國經濟的關鍵增長引擎。但家庭財富仍然低於兩年前達到的峯值65萬億美元，當時衰退還沒有開始，股市也還沒有觸頂。

巴克萊資本(Barclays Capital)經濟學家梅耶(Michelle Meyer)表示，從總體上來看，報告鼓舞人心，顯示出家庭正在修復資產負債表，從而爲將來的消費支出提供支持。

美國經濟正在緩慢走出幾十年來最嚴重的衰退。受消費支出增加帶動，第三季度按年率計算的經濟增長速度是2.8%，爲一年多以來首次實現擴張。

美聯儲的數據顯示，7-9月份家庭金融類資產價值增長5.6%。今年股價的上漲，彌補了2008年秋季金融危機造成的投資損失。

美聯儲的季度“資金流動”數據顯示，7-9月份，美國非金融債務總額按年率計算增長2.8%。第二季度的增長速度是4.5%。

第三季度家庭資產淨值與個人可支配收入的比例約爲4.86倍，高於第二季度約爲4.63倍的比例。

按年率計算，第三季度美國家庭債務下降2.6%，連續第五個季度下降。住房抵押貸款債務下降3.6%，消費信貸下降3.2%。