One wonders how anyone can write such crap.
Headline:
American Households Financially Underwater Like Never Before
"Underwater" means that one's debts are larger than one's assets. There is NO sign that this is the case in the story from Daily Caller.
Selected "fact" from that story:
... Household debt increased by $18 billion to reach a total of $18.8 trillion between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026,...
... the number of households has grown over the years, and the income per household has grown on average, and total household income has grown faster than total household debt, and the burden of this debt on that income has declined over the years....
30- to 60-days delinquencies?
... The number of Americans who are at least 30 or 60 days behind on their payments was “mostly steady,” according to the Federal Reserve’s Monday press release. Delinquency rates for mortgage debt rose from 1.22% in fourth quarter of 2025 to 1.48% in first quarter of 2026.
Additionally, auto debt rose from 2.94% to 2.97%, credit card debt from 7.04% to 7.10%, and student loan debt from 8.04% to 10.86% during that same time period....
"Mostly steady" means "No Significant Change." The 2 point jump in student loan delinquencies has everything to do with the termination of the "pause" which began during Covid. Even with that, 2 points is not DOOM DOOM DOOM.
"Underwater"?
...The debt-to-disposable income ratio in Q1 dropped to 79.9%, as disposable income rose to a record while debt balances essentially remained unchanged.
This ratio was the lowest in the data going back to 2003, except for two quarters during the stimulus era, when disposable income was bloated out of all proportion by massive government handouts, including the stimulus checks, PPP loans, and numerous other programs.
Consumers are working and earning record amounts of disposable income, and their aggregate balance sheet is in good shape: 65% own their own homes, and about 40% of them own their homes free and clear, while another big portion has only a relatively small balance left on their mortgages. Over 60% of households have at least some equities, and their prices have exploded. And they hold precious metals and cryptos and are sitting on $5 trillion in money market funds plus a pile of CDs.
In other words, the balance sheet of the economic entity of American households is in good shape...
Daily Caller's Spencer Lombardo should be ashamed.
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