Household Borrowing Rises Most in Six Years in NY Fed Survey

[brentspeak]

Source: Bloomberg

Consumer debt in the U.S. rose last quarter by the most in more than six years as Americans borrowed to buy homes and cars and to pay for education, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Household debt increased 2.1 percent, or $241 billion, to $11.52 trillion, the biggest gain since the third quarter of 2007, the survey showed. The level of debt last quarter was $180 billion higher than a year earlier, the report showed.

“After a long period of deleveraging, households are borrowing again,” Wilbert van der Klaauw, senior vice president and economist at the New York Fed, said in a statement.

Total indebtedness remains 9.1 percent below the peak of $12.68 trillion in the third quarter of 2008, the survey showed.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-18/household-debt-in-u-s-climbs-most-in-six-years-in-ny-fed-survey.html

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The only ones who would consider this good news are bankers and the politicians who are financed by them.

[Yo_Mama]

1. NY Fed report link

http://www.newyorkfed.org/householdcredit/2013-Q3/

Mortgage balances shown on consumer credit reports stand at $7.90 trillion, up by $56 billion from the level in the second quarter. Balances on home equity lines of credit (HELOC) dropped by $5 billion (0.9 percent) and now stand at $535 billion. Household non-housing debt balances increased by 2.7 percent, with gains of $31 billion in auto loan balances, $33 billion in student loan balances and $4 billion in credit card balances.

The student loan debt rise alone is worrisome.