Six-figure earners are three times more likely to be laid off than low-income Americans.

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by Ariel Zilber

Even the wealthy have a hard time living in this economy.

Americans with annual incomes of $125,000 or more are three times more likely to be laid off than low- and middle-income earners, according to a Bank of America study, citing data on unemployment benefits deposited into customer accounts. It is said that it has been done.

In its report, Bank of America cited an “increase in the unemployment rate among high-income earners” in July, citing a 70% year-over-year increase in the number of six-figure earners receiving unemployment benefits. .

“While low- and middle-income households remain fairly resilient, higher-income households appear to be feeling the labor market pinch more,” the Bank of America report said. There is.

Industries that provide high-paying jobs, such as tech and finance, have been plagued by layoffs over the past few months.

Meta, Amazon, Alphabet and other Silicon Valley companies have laid off more than 227,000 people since the beginning of the year, according to Layoffs.fyi.

Meanwhile, Wall Street giants such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup laid off thousands of employees.

As the stock market recovers starting in 2022, high earners' 401(k)s have rebounded significantly, but this is a far cry from a year ago.

The number of U.S. adults with total assets of $1 million fell by 1.8 million to 22.7 million at the end of last year, according to the Global Wealth Report compiled by analysts at Credit Suisse and UBS.

Last year, the United States, which has the highest concentration of billionaires (38% of the world's total), saw the steepest decline in the number of billionaires worth at least seven figures.

“The 33% decline in the Nasdaq and 20% decline in the S&P in 2022 caused a significant decline among billionaires who had previously seen strong growth in their 401(k)s and IRAs.” said Atlanta co-founder Ted Jenkin. Exit Stage Left Advisors, an exit planning consulting firm based in , told the Post.

The economic turmoil is hitting many high-income earners hard in this country.

The super wealthy were also feeling the pinch.

The 500 richest people on the planet lost a total of $1.4 trillion in 2022, according to figures from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Supply chain disruptions, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, China's reeling from the coronavirus outbreak, soaring inflation levels and a slumping stock market have conspired to take a toll on the net worth of the nation's richest citizens. .

Anthony Shorrocks, one of the authors of the Global Wealth Report, said: “Much of the decline in wealth in 2022 was driven by higher inflation and the strengthening of the US dollar against many other currencies.” .

“Similarly, financial assets contributed most to the decline in wealth, but non-financial assets (primarily real estate) remained resilient despite the rapid rise in interest rates.”

Shorrocks added: “However, the relative contributions of financial and non-financial assets could reverse in 2023 if house prices fall in response to rising interest rates.”