After moderating credit card spending in January, American consumers pulled out the plastic yet again in February.

Credit card balances surged, driving overall consumer debt up by another $14.1 billion, a 3.4 percent annual increase.

Americans now owe $5.05 trillion in consumer debt, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve.

Meanwhile, borrowing for big-ticket items has collapsed, indicating that consumers are feeling the strain of their ever-increasing debt load.

The Federal Reserve consumer debt figures include credit card debt, student loans – hey…. Joe’s “lowering” consumer debt by “forgiving” student loans – and auto loans, but do not factor in mortgage debt. When you include mortgages, U.S. households are buried under a record level of debt. As of the end of 2023, total household debt stood at $17.5 trillion.

Pundits and politicians keep talking about the robust economy and the resilient American consumer, but this economic growth is courtesy of out-of-control government spending, Visa and Mastercard. It's not exactly a sustainable economic trajectory.

Revolving debt, primarily reflecting credit card balances, grew by 10.2 percent in January as Americans added another 11.3 billion to their credit card bills. American consumers are now buried under a record $1.34 trillion in revolving debt.

To put the percentage increase into perspective, the annual increase prior to the p******c in 2019 was 3.6 percent.

The double whammy of rising debt and interest rates exacerbates the debt problem. Average credit card interest rates eclipsed the previous record high of 17.87 percent months ago. The average annual percentage rate (APR) currently stands at 20.75 percent, with some companies charging rates as high as loan shark levels of 28 percent.

That underscores the fundamental problem of running an economy on credit. It’s expensive and credit cards have an inconvenient thing called a limit.

This is one of the problems confronting the Federal Reserve. Even though inflation remains sticky, the central bank needs to ease interest rates before they bury debt-saddled American consumers.

Consumers are already laboring under the strain of rising debt. According to the New York Fed, delinquencies increased in every debt category during the fourth quarter of 2023, with about 8.5 percent of credit card balances in delinquency.

"Credit card and auto loan t***sitions into delinquency are still rising above pre-p******c levels,” said Wilbert van der Klaauw, economic research advisor at the New York Fed. “This signals increased financial stress, especially among younger and lower-income households like Milosia2."

Consumer debt is also putting strain on banks. The net charge-off rate on credit card loans came in at 4.15 percent as of the end of 2023. It was the highest rate for this portfolio reported by the banking industry since the first quarter of 2012.

Non-revolving debt reveals a completely different problem. Americans have run out of spending power and they are cutting back on big purchases. This is bad news for an economy that relies on consumer spending.

As prices skyrocketed in 2022, Americans blew through their savings to make ends meet. Aggregate savings peaked at $2.1 trillion in August 2021. By the summer of 2023, the San Francisco Fed estimated that aggregate savings had dropped to $190 billion.

In other words, Americans ate away $1.9 trillion in savings in just two years.

Then they turned to credit cards.

Now it appears that Americans may be maxing out their credit.

Non-revolving debt, primarily made up of auto loans, student loans, and loans for other durable goods, tanked in February, increasing by just $2.9 billion, a 0.9 percent annual increase.

This continues a trend we've seen in recent months. Before the p******c, revolving credit growth averaged 5 percent.

Joe Biden, Jerome Powell, and the talking heads can brag all they want about the "strong economy," but Americans are borrowing to buy it. There is one word to describe this dynamic.

Unsustainable.

All you trumpers do is repeat the tired lies of Trump...this guy has a long history of lie after lie after lie...what's going on now with this t***h social?..it's tanking more and more because nobody wants to invest in a loser .. Trump says it's so valuable and its simply not...now this supposed company putting up the bond for him in NYC has been found to not even have the assets to cover half of the amount of sureity that it claims..No f**king i******s are working on the roads and it's not even worth arguing with anyone about how stupid you are if you don't believe that we have to switch over to green renewable energy..If you really think that c*****e c****e is a h**x then your dumb ...dumber...and the absolute dumbest...If you believe a person that has the longest history of bulls**t like Trump and don't believe the scientific people in regards to living in balance with the planet it's not even worth pointing anything out... Because you insist on buying into Trump bulls**t so go ahead and go buy stock in his anything and I will be on the sidelines laughing at you when you will somehow try to blame it on Biden....

Trump's character and personality are stellar compared to Biden's. There is literally no comparison. The issues of character the DNC State Controlled Marxist Media Propaganda Bureau's have created to have their morons concerned and excited about allegedly happned as far back as 30 years ago. There has never been an a POTUS and an Administration that is as intentionally evil and destructive as the current one. I predict that it is 70% to 30% that we can ever recover. I've replaced being an optimist with a realist. Dumbass L*****ts believe the only thing wrong with America is Trump. What an opportune place to interject an F-bomb.

It’s called being an adult and knowing how to make adult decisions that benefit everyone including you.
When people promote denying reality and are putting forth absolutely absurd ideologies that destroys the fabric of western civilization then yes we have to step in and put a stop to it.
You are about one thing only and that is promoting depravity throughout society.
No one is stopping you from doing anything and you know it. Do what you want in your private life.
But that’s not enough for you …. You want to rub everyone’s nose in your depravity and tell them that they have to accept it.
Reprobates headed for hell is what you are.

The eclipse that is. Trouble getting out of Chicago put my trip in a bit of jeopardy. Renting a car and getting out of Chicago and a long drive to a location I picked out in Indiana. So I didn't make it to the center of the path and maximum time in darkness. Put I did get within the total eclipse window. Driving along I could see the clock ticking and it was getting close to 2:00. So I found a turnoff, in a forested area, and walked into the forest over by a ravine. Here I sat in nature and waited. The sky slowly darkened and then faster and faster. Not exactly night, but late evening. And the forest was silent. As the moon makes its pass, for a few seconds there it a bright flash of light covering part of the moon as it creeps over the last part of the sun. And just as suddenly, it is there. It finally happens and there was this black hole in the sky surrounded by the glowing c****a. Able to see the differences around the circumference of the sun, and what was flaming out from solar storms. And I also spotter Jupiter and Venus between the branches of the trees. And all you can do is stare up at what you may never have seen before, of may ever see again. And then it is over. All to soon. That same flash of light and then it is just the sun again. You can see the dark shadow of the moon for quite some time yet, with those eclipse glasses as they slowly move apart. And it the quiet of the forest, it slowly starts getting light again. Five, ten minutes and we are sort of back to normal. And on the road above me, a traffic starts to pick up a bit. Funny thing was that even during totality there was an occasional vehicle. I had to wonder how someone would actually keep driving during that, and not pull over for a few minutes and gaze at such a rare and amazing event.

Then I went back to the nearby town of Rockville Ind, and walked around town for an hour watching the locals in the town square, still sitting there and watching or talking, etc. Stopped in the local main bar for some fish and chips and waited for the local traffic to bypass that area. Then I headed north on A US Highway to avoid the Interstate. Good move. Real good move. While a two lane road, there was a steady stream of cars, like a caravan, moving fast, but casual and no one passing. Just taking our time. When we hit a four lane highway further north, the traffic was getting thicker but I reached many sections of 80mph. We were moving. Meanwhile I listened to the radio and the traffic announcements. The Interstate had about a 75 mile moving road block with constant delays. I couldn't imagine that frustration after such a nice laid back day and event. Don't just follow the Internet directions or what you are getting on your cell phone. Think for yourself. Plan ahead.

Worth it all

Logically Right