US households added $193 billion of debt in the fourth quarter.
US households, including mortgages, credit card, auto, and student debt, now holds more than $14 trillion of debt, a new record, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Report on Household Debt and Credit.
This means that the total U.S. household debt rose by $601 billion in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, or 4.4%, surpassing $14 trillion for the first time, Bloomberg reports, that’s $1.5 trillion above the previous peak in the third quarter of 2008. Breaking down the numbers, mortgage borrowing rose by $120 billion to $9.56 trillion, while student loan balances grew by $10 billion in the fourth quarter, which backs young consumers trying to build up credit. Auto loans, on the other hand, rose to $1.33 trillion, the highest percentage since the third quarter of 2011. Credit card debt rose to a record $930 billion.
