WASHINGTON - Americans are recovering some of their vast loss of wealth from the recession, thanks to gains in stock investments and home values. Net worth - the value of assets such as homes, bank accounts and investments, minus debts like mortgages and credit cards - rose 5 percent last quarter, to $53.4 trillion, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. That was the second straight quarterly increase. Yet even with those gains, Americans' net worth remains far below its revised peak of $64.5 trillion reached before the recession began. That underscores the vast loss of wealth over the past two years. Net worth would need to rise an additional 21 percent just to return to its pre-recession height.

- Associated Press