Economics
The Wealth Gains That Made 2020 a Banner Year for the Richest 1%
- Top group added $4 trillion, more than a third of new wealth
- Americans without college degree saw their wealth share shrink
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The rich got richer in the U.S. last year, as wealth created by rebounding stock and real-estate markets skewed toward high earners.
The richest 1% of households saw their net worth rise by some $4 trillion in 2020, meaning that they captured about 35% of the extra wealth generated nationwide, according to the latest quarterly study of household wealth from the Federal Reserve. The poorest half of the population, by contrast, got about 4% of overall gains.