For the majority of the pandemic, Americans did something unusual during a recession: They started paying off credit debt. But now Americans are back to taking on more credit-card debt as the economy continues to recover.
The increase is stemming from the wind-down of stimulus programs like enhanced unemployment benefits and economic-relief checks, as well as more opportunities to spend money compared to prior points in the pandemic, New York Fed researchers said. But there is room for people to break out their credit cards again. Credit-card balances “are $123 billion lower than they had been at the end of 2019,” the New York Fed report stated.
The biggest contributor to the overall rise in household debt last quarter was mortgage balances, which grew by $230 billion.
Just 15t… Xmas spendings here they come.
Welcome to a destabilizing economy.