As Prices Rise Americans Turning To Their Credit Cards

[shalom]

As Prices Rise Americans Turning To Their Credit Cards


BY TYLER DURDEN

MONDAY, APR 11, 2022 - 01:41 PM

Via SchiffGold.com,



Prices keep rising faster than wages. The stimulus checks are long gone. Savings are being depleted. How is the average American supposed to make ends meet?



The only option is to charge it.


And that’s exactly what Americans are doing.



Consumer debt rose at the fastest pace in 20 years in February.



Total consumer debt rose by $41.8 billion 11.3% in February, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. It was an 11.3% increase year-on-year and the highest rate of growth since November 2001. Analysts had projected a modest $15 billion gain.



Americans now owe a total of $4.48 trillion in consumer credit.



The Federal Reserve consumer debt figures include credit card debt, student loans and auto loans, but do not factor in mortgage debt. When you include mortgages, US consumers are buried under more than $15 trillion in debt.



Americans ran up their credit cards at a blistering pace in February. Revolving credit, primarily credit card debt, rose by a whopping 20.7%. American consumers added $18 billion to their credit card bills in February alone. US credit card debt now stands at over $1.06 trillion.



With interest rates rising, Americans will soon be paying more in interest charges every month, and many will see minimum payments rise. The annual interest payment on the US debt has already surged by $16.4 billion in just six months.



As Axios put it, “COVID-era stimulus payments to American families are a distant memory, as is the savings cushion they briefly created. And remember, this data came before the worst of the current gasoline price spike.”

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