Posted
7/07/2009 05:15:00 PM
by Douglas
Sure, people are always defaulting on credit card loans, and sure, that number of defaults are increasing. But what's alarming about this
story is that the
rate of that increase is surprising those that estimate such misery.
Soaring U.S. unemployment and a shrinking economy drove delinquencies on credit card debt to an all-time high in the first quarter as a record number of cash-strapped consumers fell behind on their bills.
Delinquencies were the highest since the ABA began tracking the data in 1974. Late payments on home equity borrowings set records, rising to 3.52 percent from 3.03 percent on loans and to 1.89 percent from 1.46 percent on lines of credit.
At least I don't get those damn credit card applications by the dozens anymore. The downside? The entire economy is about to collapse.