Discussion Paper
Just Released: Total Household Debt Nears 2008 Peak but Debt Picture Looks Much Different
Abstract: The latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit from the New York Fed?s Center for Microeconomic Data showed a substantial increase in aggregate household debt balances in the fourth quarter of 2016 and for the year as a whole. As of December 31, 2016, total household debt stood at $12.58 trillion, an increase of $226 billion (or 1.8 percent) from the third quarter of 2016. Total household debt is now just 0.8 percent ($99 billion) below its third quarter 2008 peak of $12.68 trillion, and 12.8 percent above the second quarter 2013 trough. But debt looks very different in 2016 than it did the last time we saw this level of indebtedness.
Keywords: quarterly report; household debt and credit;
JEL Classification: D1;
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Bibliographic Information
Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Part of Series: Liberty Street Economics
Publication Date: 2017-02-16
Number: 20170216