U.S. household wealth rose sharply in the first quarter of the year, helped mainly by the best quarterly gain in stock prices since 1998 and also by the first increase in home values since 2006, the government reported Thursday. Household net worth rose 4.7 percent to $62.9 trillion last quarter, according to a Federal Reserve (Fed) report. The main reason was a 12 percent jump in the Standard & Poor's 500 index, which helped Americans who own stocks. Meanwhile, home values increased 2.3 percent. But since the end of March, progress made to recover wealth lost in the 2007-2009 Great Recession has stalled. Stocks fell 6 percent in May amid rising fears about Europe's debt crisis and a slowing U.S. economy. Moreover, the housing market has not yet shown signs of making a sustainable recovery. Household wealth, or net worth, reflects the value of assets like homes, bank accounts and stocks, minus debts like mortgages and credit cards. It fell to a recent low of $49 trillion in the first quarter of 2009 and still is about 5 percent below its pre-recession peak of $66 trillion.
