US Credit Card Debt Tops $1 Trillion, Overall Consumer Debt Little Changed  

• Americans borrowed more than ever on their credit cards in the last quarter, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said on Tuesday, with balances surpassing $1 trillion for the first time even as overall household debt loads were largely unchanged.
• Credit card balances rose by $45 billion to $1.03 trillion in the second quarter, the regional Fed bank said in its latest quarterly household debt and credit report, reflecting robust consumer spending as well as higher prices due to inflation, researchers said.
• Household debt ticked up 0.1% to $17.06 trillion, as mortgage balances - the biggest portion, and typically the biggest driver, of overall household debt - were largely unchanged. Meanwhile, credit card delinquencies are at an 11-year high, as measured using a four-quarter average, the data showed.
• Mortgage originations increased to $393 billion in the April-June period, from a nine-year low of about $324 billion last quarter, the data showed. They remain much lower than the average in the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting the impact of the U.S. central bank's aggressive interest rate hikes over the past 15 months. Overall mortgage balances ticked down to $12.01 trillion, from $12.04 trillion in the prior quarter, reflecting some changes in credit reporting that are expected to reverse next quarter, New York Fed researchers said.

(Source: Reuters)