ATLANTA-While many see a turnaround at hand in the economy, consumer delinquencies on credit cards, first mortgages and home equity lines of credit continued to grow in November over October, according to data released by Equifax.
The same data, however, show that consumers have reduced their debt by more than 5% over one-year earlier, Equifax reported, with first mortgage debt down 5.4%, credit card debt down 7.3% and auto loans declining 9.5%. Overall consumer debt, said Equifax, is at the September 2007 level of about $11 trillion.
The Equifax analysis shows card delinquencies of 60 days rose to 4.62% in November, from 3.76% a year earlier but remain below May's peak of 4.79%. Delinquencies on home equity lines of credit climbed to 3.43%, from 3.39% in October and 2.95% a year earlier. Home mortgage payments at least 30 days late rose to 7.91%, from 7.76% and 5.83%, respectively.
