Increases in credit card and auto loan balances were not enough to keep overall household debt balances from remaining flat since the first quarter, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New Yorks Household Debt and Credit Report.
Total debt increased $2 billion in the second quarter to $11.85 trillion, according to the Fed. Credit card balances reached $703 billion in the second quarter, a jump of $19 billion. Delinquency rates for 90 days or more remained at 8.4% for credit cards in the second quarter
Borrowing for new auto loans - at $119 billion - reached a 10-year high in the second quarter. The aggregate auto loan balance has passed $1 trillion. Non-housing debt balances rose by a total of $67 billion, mostly fueled by the uptick in auto loan balances.
Student loan balances, at $1.19 trillion, did not change. But the number of Americans failing to pay back their student loans is growing.The Fed data, released Thursday, found that 11.5% of student loan borrowers were delinquent in the second quarter, up from 11.1% in the first quarter. That 0.4% increase was twice as much as any other form of consumer credit and comes as student loan debt has emerged as the largest form of non-housing consumer debt.
Student loans overtook auto loans and credit card debt in 2012. The growth of debt facing college graduates has become a major political issue. Presidential candidates have
