Consumer Borrowing Declines The Fed
Written by Tim Peak on January 22, 2012.
Consumer borrowing fell slightly in the third quarter as Americans continued to shed their debt burdens in the face of a struggling economy.
Household debt totaled $11.66 trillion in the three months ending in September, down $60 billion from the previous quarter, according to a report released Monday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
“The decline in outstanding consumer debt reveals that households continue to try and deleverage in the wake of a challenging economic environment and large declines in home values,” said Andrew Haughwout, vice president in the Research and Statistics Group at the New York Fed, in a statement.
But while overall debt is declining, the number of people who are failing to keep up with their payments rose in the third quarter. The delinquency rate stood at 10% in the end of September, up from 9.8% in June.