Financial distress is rising among US households

US consumer spending is near a tipping point

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Last week, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released its Household Debt and Credit Report for the most recent quarter.

According to their data, US household debt jumped $167 billion in Q1 2025, to a record $18.2 trillion.

As you can see, household debt has risen over the past 12 years by a massive $7 trillion.

The Q1 increase was driven by mortgage debt, which surged $199 billion to a record $12.8 trillion.

Student loans increased $16 billion to 1.6 trillion, also an all-time high.

Meanwhile, auto and credit card debt fell by $13 billion and $29 billion to $1.6 trillion and $1.2 trillion, respectively, not far away from their all-time records.

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Lastly, Buy Now Pay Later is estimated to hit a record $250 billion by the end of 2025.

US households have never been more indebted.

This piece analyzes how financially distressed US consumers are based on the most current data. This is an update to the piece linked below.

🚨What is happening with the US consumer sentiment?

Americans' economic outlook is rapidly shifting, and this is not a good sign

globalmarketsinvestor.beehiiv.com/p/what-is-happening-with-the-us-consumer-sentiment

The US job headline numbers are overstated

The US labor market continues to deteriorate under the surface

globalmarketsinvestor.beehiiv.com/p/the-us-job-headline-numbers-are-overstated

DELINQUENCIES ARE RISING AT AN ALARMING PACE

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