Jobs are on everybody’s mind as the July employment report comes out. Will the labor market show more cracks? Or will it give the pundits more room to spin the idea that we’re not really in a recession? In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey talks about the labor market and breaks the July jobs data news as it comes out. He also talks about the “health” of the American consumer and gold’s flirtation with $1,800 an ounce.
American consumers added to their record levels of debt in May as they continue to struggle to make ends meet in this inflationary environment.
Americans increased their debt load by $22.35 billion in May, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. That represents a 5.9% annual increase.
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.
American consumers ran up more debt in December, wrapping up a year in which consumer debt increase at the fastest pace in five years.
This could prove problematic for the Federal Reserve as it contemplates raising interest rates.
The Federal Reserve is talking about raising interest rates. Well, that’s going to be a big problem for American consumers who are running up debt at a torrid pace. This is yet another reason why the Fed can’t do what it’s claiming it will do.
Consumer debt jumped 11% year-on-year in November, according to the latest data released by the Federal Reserve. It was the biggest single-month jump in consumer debt in 20 years.
Pretty much everybody now expects the Federal Reserve to go to war against inflation, but the central bank has a problem not many people seem to be talking about – an economy buried under debt. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey talks about consumer debt levels and their ramifications. He also discusses central bank gold-buying and breaks the November CPI data live.
American consumers piled on more debt in October as inflation continues to squeeze their pocketbooks.
Consumer debt grew by $16.9 billion, an annual increase of 4.6% (seasonally adjusted), according to the latest data released by the Federal Reserve. That raised total consumer debt to over $4.38 trillion.
American consumers piled on more debt in September as higher prices squeezed wallets.
Consumer credit grew by $29.9 billion in September, bringing the total to $4.37 trillion, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. The increase in consumer debt nearly doubled the consensus estimate of a $15.5 billion increase.
Consumer borrowing has slowed somewhat from the record level we saw in June, but Americans continue to pile on the debt.
Consumer debt grew by $14.4 billion in August to $4.35 trillion, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. That represents a 4% increase.
This follows on the heels of a 4.8% increase in July after a record 10.6% increase in June.
With the stimulus checks long ago spent, Americans have gone back to buying things the old-fashioned way – on credit.
Household debt surged by $313 billion in the second quarter to nearly $15 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Household Debt and Credit Report. It was the biggest quarterly dollar increase in household debt since 2007. In percentage terms, household debt grew by 2.1%, the biggest surge since Q4 2013.
