Americans continue to build up consumer debt; in the fourth quarter of 2017 consumer debt (excluding home loans) rose 5.5% from the prior year to $3.82 trillion; this a record since the Federal Reserve Bank of New York began tracking in 1999; non-housing debt was around 29% of overall debt, another record; some aren’t worried just yet with delinquencies coming off of record lows; The WSJ provides more data points on consumer debt, including various perspectives on the American consumer. Source
Loose credit and consumers who are no longer averse to loans have contributed to the rise in household debt as a share of GDP; numbers have risen from 28% to 40% in the last five years; the share of household loans to overall lending hit 67.5% in the third quarter of 2016, more than twice the share of the year before; China's household debt as a share of GDP is half of what it is in the US, though if the current pace continues it will come close to equaling the US percentage in a few short years. Source
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The Federal Reserve released its Consumer Credit report for October on Wednesday; the report showed an increase of $16 billion in total consumer credit; revolving credit increased by $2.3 billion and non-revolving credit increased by $13.7 billion; the increase resulted in a seasonally adjusted annual rate of growth of 5.2%; at 5.2% the rate is the slowest since June; consumer spending was also down in October with a 0.3% increase signaling caution from consumers in spending and borrowing. Source
A report on China's consumer credit finds that consumers are increasing their use of debt with 94% of consumers using credit or a loan in the past year; consumers are borrowing more from internet-based sources with consumers increasing their borrowing from P2P loan providers while also borrowing more for car loans and mortgages; consumers in their 20s appear to be the leading borrowers as a trend towards living in the moment is motivating their spending habits; the report expects the rise in debt to continue, projecting household loans to increase at a rate of 14% for the next five years. Source
Federal Reserve Board data shows that consumer debt reached all-time highs in November; the previous highs were in April 2008 when consumer debt totaled $1.021 trillion; according to the CFPB, “Most origination metrics we observe are near pre-recession levels. This is true across credit score tiers for both general purpose and private label cards. Approval rates have climbed for all credit score tiers since post-recession lows, even as application volumes have stabilized.” Source
The WSJ reports that credit card, personal, auto and student loan debt is slated to top $4 trillion in 2019;...