businessUpdated: Jun 11, 2020 23:41 ISTUS nonfinancial business debt soared in the first quarter by the most in records back to 1952, as bank loans and corporate bond issuance jumped in companies’ all-out effort to stay liquid during the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, household net worth fell the most on record -- to $110.8 trillion from $117.3 trillion -- as stock prices collapsed in February and March amid fears of the coronavirus. Fed policy makers slashed the benchmark interest rate close to zero and the unemployment rate jumped from the lowest in 50 years to the highest since the Great Depression era. The decline in household net worth was almost entirely due to the decline in the value of equities. Stock prices have since largely rebounded from their March lows, suggesting net worth will recover in the second quarter.

Source: Hindustan Times June 11, 2020 18:11 UTC