YiLi Chien is an economist and research officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. His areas of research include macroeconomics, household finance and asset pricing. He joined the St. Louis Fed in 2012. Read more about the author and his research.
Despite rising wealth inequality, most retired households in 2016 were wealthier than those in 1989.
Millennial households had a lower net worth in 2016 than Generation X households had in 2001. But the difference may be due to millennials’ longer schooling and delays in marriage and other major life events.
Recent data show that about 35 percent of U.S. households don’t participate in any retirement savings plan. And many others have little saved.
An analysis of tax data suggests that households in Connecticut are more likely to own stocks than those in Mississippi, even when taking income into consideration.
This slowdown is a national problem, but the cause and impact may not be the same for the whole country. To shed light on these matters, the data for each state’s productivity growth during the current and previous expansions are compared.
To better understand unemployment in key industries, not only the unemployment rate but the duration of unemployment for those in the industry should be considered. Focusing on only the former could lead to misguided efforts to help the jobless.
