Americans are in debt. And massively so.
In fact, the US is laboring under $1.1 trillion in auto loan debt and $1.3 trillion in student loan obligations.
This massive burden may well be holding back the beleaguered consumer in the US, a country which depends on consumer spending for three quarters of economic growth.
According to the New York Fed, total indebtedness is now $12.12 trillion and while mortgage debt accounts for the lion’s share of the burden, student debt is on the rise, as are auto loan obligations.
“How much does the average household owe?,” Bloomberg asks. “Nationwide, the per-capita debt is about $46,170.”
Most of that is mortgage debt, although in Texas, where the jobs market has been hit especially hard by the sharp decline in crude prices, auto loan debt has spiked of late.
In California, total debt amounts to around $66,000 per capita.
If you live in one of the states mentioned above and are struggling under a $60,000 debt burden, just remember: you can always refi via a P2P website. Oh… wait…
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1PLXxTr Tyler Durden