The Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Tuesday released its uniquely-useful quarterly survey of U.S. household debt derived from non-public credit data cross-tabbed in new ways to show not just total household debt burdens, but also which income group is most likely to manage all the debt accumulated before COVID ripped into family balance sheets. Based on total amounts of debt in the first quarter, the FRB-NY analysis concludes that debt burdens coming close to real record highs are nonetheless manageable due to credit-line capacity. However, as we read the debt-burden data once broken down by income, we are far less sanguine.
The full report is available to subscription clients. To find out how you can sign up for the service, click here.