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/
US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is preparing to leave the Trump administration after what a new report has described as months of tension with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, potentially triggering another change at the army’s top echelons.
According to the Friday report by The Wall Street Journal, Driscoll is expected to step down before the end of the year and could leave his post earlier. The newspaper cited people familiar with discussions over his departure.
The Journal reported that Driscoll and his family vacated the official residence assigned to the army secretary at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall this summer, a move that could indicate he was preparing to leave the position.
The reported departure would come at a time of continuing uncertainty at the top echelons of the army.
Hegseth abruptly removed Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George in April, while Trump has not yet nominated a permanent successo....more below
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The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) warns the enemies that any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic will not go unanswered.
In a statement on Thursday, the IRGC issued a “stern warning” to the enemies after US forces launched strikes against the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.
Following the US military attack on a point on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport with aerial projectiles, the IRGC carried out new strikes targeting the US air base from which the attack originated in the wee hours of Thursday, it added.
“This response is a serious warning to the enemy that they should know the act of aggression will not go unanswered,” the IRGC emphasized.
The elite military force warned of a “more decisive” response if the enemy repeated any act of aggression.
It also said the responsibility for the consequences of any IRGC response lies with the aggressor.
The statement comes after the IRGC Navy on Thursday forced an American tanker to turn back. The tanker ...
