STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Downwithcapitalism <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 6:35 PM Subject: [downwithcapitalism] US recession worsens Associated Press. 20 June 2001. Debt pinches consumers. Excerpts. NEW YORK -- Personal debt is at an all-time high, and the amount of income Americans [meaning: citizens of the U.S.] are dedicating to making payments on it is at levels unseen in 15 years. Mortgage delinquencies and write-offs by credit card companies are rising, and personal bankruptcy filings could hit a record this year. That translates to serious financial pain for families that are overextended at a time when unemployment is rising, experts say. It also means that just when the cooling U.S. economy needs spending by consumers to sustain growth, they're hard-pressed to do so. "Consumer debt isn't a problem unless and until people lose their jobs, and that has started to happen," said David Orr, chief economist at the First Union Corp. in Charlotte, N.C. "It's not the cause of the economy's problems, but it can make the snowball roll downhill faster." Durant Abernethy, president of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, a nonprofit organization that helps families with debt problems, says the number of people seeking assistance is rising rapidly. "Our average client is carrying more debt than they've ever carried, and they're in trouble," Abernethy said. "If their overtime is cut back or a husband or wife is laid off, they have virtually no savings, so they go over the edge." The national balance on credit cards, auto loans and other consumer loans rose to a record $1.58 trillion in April, according to the Federal Reserve. Mortgage debt totals about $5.2 trillion. Americans are spending 14.3 percent of their take-home pay on debts -- the highest percentage since 1986, Fed figures show. Credit card delinquencies -- accounts at least 30 days past due -- have been hovering at about 5 percent, up from 4.3 percent a year ago. In April, credit-card issuers wrote off uncollectible balances at an annual rate of 6.7 percent, according to Standard & Poor's. That was the highest loss rate since February 1997. Mortgage delinquencies rose to 4.5 percent of outstanding loans in the final quarter of 2000, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. That was the highest since 4.6 percent in the third quarter of 1992. There was a slight improvement in the first quarter this year. Perhaps the strongest measure of American debt distress is the rise in bankruptcies. The number of bankruptcy cases filed in the first quarter rose to about 367,000, up 17.5 percent from a year earlier, according to federal figures. Most of the debtors were consumers. If the trend continues, filings this year will exceed the record 1.44 million in 1998. * * * * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
