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ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

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which fell sharply in the Great Recessions and were slow to recover until<br />

more recently.<br />

Figure 2-xii<br />

Household Debt and Real Consumer Spending Growth, 1970–2016<br />

Four-Quarter Percent Change<br />

20<br />

16<br />

12<br />

Household Debt<br />

8<br />

4<br />

2016:Q3<br />

0<br />

Real PCE<br />

-4<br />

-8<br />

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015<br />

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis; Federal Reserve Board.<br />

Earlier gains in household net worth (that is, assets less debts, also<br />

referred to as household wealth), such as the moderate increases in equity<br />

wealth so far in 2016, also supported consumer-spending growth in 2016<br />

(Figure 2-15). The wealth-to-income ratio remained elevated in 2016, following<br />

a marked increase during 2013. Changes in net worth have been<br />

spread unevenly across households, though, and these disparities may have<br />

implications for families and macroeconomic activity.<br />

Housing Markets<br />

The housing market recovery continued in the first quarter of 2016,<br />

but residential investment was a drag on economic growth in the second and<br />

third quarters. In 2016, sales of newly constructed single-family homes and<br />

single-family housing starts, bolstered by strong labor market conditions<br />

and low mortgage interest rates, averaged their highest annual level through<br />

the first 10 months of a year since 2007. However, growth in new construction<br />

slowed from its 2015 pace: total housing starts and permits zig-zagged<br />

around their 2015 level. Real residential investment decreased 1.7 percent<br />

98 | Chapter 2

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