At the end of 2009 U.S. households were richer than in the beginning of last year and this growth in their state was the first since 2007, AFP reported, citing data announced late Tuesday by the central bank of the country. The net wealth of U.S. households, ie difference between their situation and their debt has reached 54.2 trillion at the end of last year, which is 5.4 percent more than a year earlier, according to data of the Federal Reserve (UFR) of the United States. The central bank added that the process of reducing the liabilities of households, starting in spring of 2008, accelerated in 2009, while their wealth grew. In 2009 “the debts of households in the country decreased by 1.75%, but this is the first decrease of at least an annual basis since 1946. Increase in unemployment, which increased by 2.3 percentage points in 2009 to reach 10% in December (compared with 9.7 percent currently), demonstrates that wealth is not cake, which is divided equally. The high level of unemployment gives rise to assumptions that there will be a further increase in the number of people living below the poverty line for a share in 2008 reached a 11-year maximum (13.2%).
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The colosal amount of 116 million EUR were withdrawn from banks in Greece for the past month, yet 329 million - for housing loans and 464 million EUR for financing business. Because of holidays in July and the general shortage of funds, households sought consumer loans. This, reported the online edition of Greek newspaper “Ethnos”. Although the data of the Central Bank of Greece, the rate of growth of financing of enterprises and households continues to decline, the total amount that households have moved from the banks for one month is 383 million.
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