WASHINGTON (AP) - Many Americans have just absorbed a financial beating - at least as measured by their stock holdings. However, take a look at other gauges of Americans' financial health, and a more nuanced picture emerges:
Add it up, and the evidence suggests that many Americans - though certainly not all - are doing comparatively well.
Here's a look at key measures of Americans' financial well-being:
JOBS
This is a clear bright spot. Employers have added a total of 11.5 million jobs over the past 58 months. All that hiring has helped cut the unemployment rate to 5.3 percent from a peak of 10 percent in 2009. And just about everyone who has a job is getting to keep it: Applications for unemployment aid, which reflect the pace of layoffs, has hit a 15-year low.
INVESTMENTS
No doubt the latest stock market plunge has dealt a setback to many retirement accounts.
However, plenty of people have diversified their portfolios, as they should, so stocks don't represent an outsized portion of their holdings.
The investment company Vanguard reported in June that clients with retirement accounts at the end of 2009 had enjoyed a median gain of 137 percent over five years, reflecting both market returns and additional contributions.
GAS PRICES
Prices at the pump haven't been this low at this time of year since 2004, according to the American Automobile Association. The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $2.58 a gallon, down from $3.44 at this point in 2014. Analysts expect prices to fall further after summer.
HOME VALUES
The housing market has solidly recovered from the depths of the recession, when defaults on subprime mortgages caused a crushing wave of foreclosures and depressed prices.
MORTGAGE RATES
The Fed's low-rate policies have kept mortgage rates near historic lows for much of the recovery. And even as stocks have tumbled, it's become cheaper for homebuyers to borrow. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped to 3.93 percent last week from 4.09 percent in mid-July, according to mortgage firm Freddie Mac.