The total jumped by $351 billion in the third quarter, mostly due to mortgages and credit card usage, the regulator reports
US household debt jumped during the third quarter at its fastest pace in 15 years due to increases in credit card usage and mortgage balances, a Federal Reserve report revealed this week.
According to the Fed, total debt hit a record $16.5 trillion, up 2.2% from the previous quarter and 8.3% from a year ago. Households added $351 billion in debt for the July-to-September period, the regulator said.
The increase follows a $310 billion leap in the second quarter and represents an annual rise of $1.27 trillion. Debt has surged over the past year due to soaring inflation, rising interest rates and strong consumer demand.
The central bank noted that the biggest contributors to the debt load came from mortgage balances, which skyrocketed by $1 trillion from a year ago to $11.7 trillion, and credit card debt, which climbed to $930 billion.
The credit card balance collectively rose more than 15% from the same period in 2021, the largest annual jump in more than 20 years. The increase “towers over the last eighteen years of data,” according to Fed researchers.
Credit card, mortgage, and auto loan balances continued to increase in the third quarter of 2022 reflecting a combination of robust consumer demand and higher prices,” said economic research advisor at the New York Fed Donghoon Lee. “However, new mortgage originations have slowed to pre-pandemic levels amid rising interest rates.”
https://www.rt.com/business/566578-us-household-debt-skyrockets/
The prices of some life-saving medicines have soared to levels that are unaffordable for ordinary people in Venezuela as the United States has ramped up military presence in the Caribbean off Venezuela's coast, alongside escalating sanctions, blockades and military threats against the oil-rich South American nation since late August.
https://www.presstv.ir/default/Embeded/761400
At a northeastern suburb in the capital city Caracas, locals can still purchase most of the commonly used medicines at a major supermarket, where some antibiotics have been sold out, and some first-aid medicines and supplies have become too costly for ordinary residents.
"I'm here mainly to buy antibiotics. I have problems with my lungs. But I can't get all I want, such as vancomycin," said a resident named Alfonso.
"Recent tensions have affected the supplies and prices of drugs. The prices of cancer drugs, insulin drugs and albumin are very high, and most patients here cannot afford them," said Giovanna Gonzalez a ...
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow is prepared to use military force to achieve the goals of its special military operation if Ukraine continues to delay peace talks.
During an inspection of a Russian armed forces command post on Saturday, Putin stressed that Moscow will not allow Kiev’s obstruction to prevent progress.
“If the Kiev authorities do not want to resolve the matter peacefully, we will accomplish all the tasks before us in the course of the special military operation by military means,” he said.
The Russian leader noted that the Ukrainian authorities are not moving toward a peaceful resolution, adding, “We see that even today, unfortunately, the leaders of the Kiev regime are in no hurry to resolve this conflict peacefully. I spoke about this a year ago in a speech at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Putin also received reports from Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov and commanders of Russia’s “Centre” and “East” military groups.
Meanwhile, ...
