Life under Joe Biden and his extreme leftwing ideology.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/things-just-kept-getting-more-100104678.html
But she and her husband couldn't catch a break. Inflation had been low when they had finished paying off their earlier debt. But as the economy recovered from the pandemic, prices began to build up.
Their electric bill rose. Then gas and groceries went up. "Things just kept getting more expensive and worse," she said.
The $600 quickly became $3,200, her current balance that is poised to keep growing. "We have started having to charge necessities back on the credit card," she said.
Inflation, which has now been at historically high levels for almost two years, is eroding the value of Americans' paychecks, leaving millions of Americans like Immel Cross and her husband in debt trying to close the gap between what they once could afford and what they struggle to pay now.
To make up that difference, they are leaning on credit cards and increasingly falling behind on payments. Credit card debt hit a record of nearly $1 trillion last quarter, a $394 billion increase from the prior three months, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Despite a low unemployment rate in the U.S., "stubbornly high prices and climbing interest rates may be testing some borrowers' ability to repay their debts," Wilbert van der Klaauw, economic research advisor at the New York Fed, said in a statement.
That led to a drastic decline in balances. From the last quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2021, credit card debt declined from $930 billion to $770 billion, a 17% decrease.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/things-just-kept-getting-more-100104678.html
But she and her husband couldn't catch a break. Inflation had been low when they had finished paying off their earlier debt. But as the economy recovered from the pandemic, prices began to build up.
Their electric bill rose. Then gas and groceries went up. "Things just kept getting more expensive and worse," she said.
The $600 quickly became $3,200, her current balance that is poised to keep growing. "We have started having to charge necessities back on the credit card," she said.
Inflation, which has now been at historically high levels for almost two years, is eroding the value of Americans' paychecks, leaving millions of Americans like Immel Cross and her husband in debt trying to close the gap between what they once could afford and what they struggle to pay now.
To make up that difference, they are leaning on credit cards and increasingly falling behind on payments. Credit card debt hit a record of nearly $1 trillion last quarter, a $394 billion increase from the prior three months, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Despite a low unemployment rate in the U.S., "stubbornly high prices and climbing interest rates may be testing some borrowers' ability to repay their debts," Wilbert van der Klaauw, economic research advisor at the New York Fed, said in a statement.
How did credit card debt get so high?
During the pandemic, millions of Americans paid off credit card debt with stimulus money they received. At the same time, they avoided accumulating more debt because lockdowns and restrictions prevented them from spending money on things like vacations.That led to a drastic decline in balances. From the last quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2021, credit card debt declined from $930 billion to $770 billion, a 17% decrease.
