US household debt levels edge up in Q2, NY Fed survey showsAug 6 (Reuters) - Total U.S. household debt levels edged up in the second quarter but overall delinquency rates stabilized, indicating that borrowers are still in decent enough shape to support the economy, a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Tuesday.
The bank report, part of its survey of household debt and credit conditions, showed that overall debt levels rose by $109 billion, or 0.6%, in the second quarter to $17.80 trillion.
Overall borrowing levels are now $3.7 trillion above where they were at the end of 2019, before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the report said.
The data arrives at an uncertain time for the economy. The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate to 5.25-5.50% from near zero between March 2022 and July last year, where it remains, in order to quash high inflation. Borrowing costs overall jumped in lockstep but the economy remained resilient amid a high savings rate.
Worse-than-expected job market data last week, however, have made financial markets nervous that the economy may be on the cusp of a downturn. Fed policymakers, who already signaled they expect to begin cutting rates in September now that inflation is near the 2% target rate, have said they don't want to wait too long before lowering rates and have cited delinquencies as one area they are closely monitoring.
On that front there was some relief with the report showing that overall delinquency rates remained at 3.2%, unchanged from the first quarter, and still well below the 4.7% rate seen at the end of 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic............
https://kitco.com/news/off-the-wire/2024-08-06/us-household-debt-levels-edge-q2-ny-fed-survey-shows
