Economy

The Federal Reserve's Q2 2026 Z.1 release puts household net worth at $195.9 trillion, a $12.8 trillion gain driven by capital gains, while separately reporting roughly $7.8 trillion in private-credit loans for the first time as a distinct sector tracked back to 2012. The release also adds dedicated hedge-fund tables, correcting a methodology that had previously folded domestic hedge funds into the household balance sheet. The Fed does not quantify whether these structural additions changed any previously reported headline aggregates, leaving the full before-and-after impact unmeasured.

The U.S. Treasury recorded a $1.965591 trillion deficit through the first eleven months of fiscal year 2026, marginally below the comparable FY2025 figure, as rising individual income tax receipts were partially offset by a 24 percent drop in corporate tax collections and an $83.5 billion increase in net interest outlays. Net interest now accounts for nearly 15 percent of all federal spending year to date, up from 14 percent a year earlier. Full-year projections range from $1.853 trillion to $2.1 trillion, with the final September figures due October 13.