Newly released data from the Federal Reserve has unveiled a remarkable surge in the net worth of Americans between 2019 and 2022. During this period, the real median net worth experienced an astounding 37 percent increase, surpassing any previous recorded increments. This revelation comes from the Fed’s Survey of Consumer Finances.

However, the report also exposes a widening income inequality and the alarming reduction of affordable housing to historic lows. These disconcerting trends have been exacerbated by the substantial economic disruptions resulting from the pandemic.

What’s even more concerning is the increasingly pessimistic outlook among Black and Hispanic families regarding their financial futures. While Black and Hispanic families did experience faster growth in wealth compared to the average white family between 2019 and 2022, the average white family still possessed approximately six times the wealth of a Black family and five times that of a Hispanic family.

The Survey of Consumer Finances, conducted every three years since 1989, assesses various financial indicators, including income, net worth, credit usage, and debt.

In an interesting move, the 2022 survey excluded government stimulus payments from its 2021 income measurements, although some pandemic-related support, such as enhanced unemployment benefits, was taken into account. It’s noteworthy that the term “stimulus” appeared only once in the report, despite a period marked by historic government stimulus and relief efforts during the pandemic.

The report provides insight into a financial foundation that has supported economic resilience and growth, even in the face of prominent but contained bank collapses earlier in the year and bleak recession predictions.

During the three-year period, the Fed identified a decrease in measures of financial vulnerability. The median leverage ratio, which represents a family’s total debt compared to its total assets, fell to a 20-year low of 20.9 percent, as reported in the latest survey. The median payment-to-income ratio reached its lowest level on record, standing at 13.9 percent, while the fraction of families with payment-to-income ratios exceeding 40 percent hit a record low of 6.5 percent.

However, amidst these favorable findings, families seeking to purchase homes or carrying credit card debt are facing challenges due to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes, which have reached a 22-year high. Regrettably, high interest rates disproportionately affect Black Americans.

The Fed’s decision to increase interest rates is driven by its efforts to curtail inflation, which reached a peak of 9 percent last year, and bring it back to its 2 percent target without triggering a recession.