Credit experts in the U.S. report that consumers are borrowing more and experiencing greater difficulty in paying off what they owe. Economist Mark Zandi at Economy.com sees the process as a “scary sign.”
Payment delinquency rates rose at the end of last year for just about every type of consumer loan. While economists expect late payments to rise when the economy slows, the extra stress on consumers comes at a time when analysts are banking on spending to keep the economy from falling into recession.
Economists say the increasing trouble Americans are having paying off debt is not enough in itself to cause the economy serious difficulty. But the problem could worsen sharply if unemployment rises further and more consumers have trouble keeping up.
Source: George Hager, Consumers Dig Perilously Deep into Debt, USA Today, April 11, 2001.
For text http://www.usatoday.com/money/consumer/2001-04-11-debt.htm
For more on Consumer Debt http://www.ncpa.org/pd/economy/econ2.html
