Americans are buying stuff. Retail sales were stronger than expected in June. Auto sales increased by 0.7% after a similar rise in May, helping boost total retail spending. Overall, retail sales were up 0.4% last month. The Commerce Department revised May sales down from 0.5% to 0.4%.
Increasing retail sales would seem to be a good sign for the economy, but the latest consumer credit numbers reveal an underlying problem. Americans are buying a lot of this stuff on credit. How long can consumers keep running up credit cards before the bubble bursts?
The Federal Reserve held its June Open Market Committee Meeting this week and it looks like Powell and company are fresh out of patience. In fact, that word didn’t come up once. And while the Fed held pat on interest rates, for now, virtually everybody is betting on a rate cut in the near future. This has caused gold to surge to prices not seen in nearly six years. Meanwhile, American consumers are still running up debt and the Chinese are shedding it. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey talks about it.
Consumer debt climbed to a new record once again in April. The question is how much money can American consumers borrow before the bubble pops?
Americans borrowed money at the fastest pace in five months in April, according to the latest Federal Reserve Consumer Credit Report. Total consumer credit increased by $17.5 billion. That’s an annual growth rate of 5.2%
Americans currently owe nearly $4.07 trillion.
Consumer debt continues to climb and break records every month. But the pace of borrowing slowed in March, a possible red flag for the US economy.
Total consumer debt rose $10.3 billion in March, hitting a record-setting total of $4.05 trillion, according to the latest report by the Federal Reserve.
Through the first quarter of 2019, American indebtedness increased at a 4.25% annual rate. But the March increase came in at just only 3.1% and ranked as the smallest consumer debt increase in nine months.
Americans continue to bury themselves in debt.
US consumer credit rose by the largest amount in 11 months in October, as Americans piled on another $25.4 billion in debt, according to the latest consumer credit report by the Federal Reserve. Total consumer indebtedness is rapidly approaching $4 trillion, with Americans currently $3.96 trillion in the red.
Americans continue to pile up debt, adding to numbers that were already at record levels.
US consumer debt increased by $20.1 billion in August, pushing total consumer credit to a record $3.94 trillion, according to the latest numbers from the Federal Reserve. That comes to a 6.2% annual growth rate.
