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Credit card debt has reached record highs after years of pandemic-era spending.
Credit card debt fell after the start of the pandemic but has consistently risen since mid-2021.
This data comes as inflation falls and the labor market remains strong.
Americans’ cash reserves have experienced a boom bust cycle in the last few years, and the latest data spells bad news.
Americans now hold a record level of credit card debt, according to recent data from the Federal Reserve. It comes as they see their pandemic savings and cushions depleted, and as the labor market cools from its red-hot post-vaccine highs.
It shows just how much direct stimulus spending bolstered the economy and created a group of workers accustomed to support that likely won’t come back — and it may spell even further economic doom as student loan bills get piled on.
Credit card debt saw a big dip after the pandemic’s onset and stayed low in the post-vaccine months, fueled by stimulus payments and enhanced employment benefits. At the same time, the personal savings rate soared, with American households able to save up $2.3 trillion from the first quarter of 2020 through the third quarter of 2021, according to a Federal Reserve analysis.
Recent data from Credit Karma shows Gen Z and millennials have seen their credit card debt rise significantly in the second quarter of this year. Gen Z credit card debt rose 4.2% to levels exceeding $3,300 on average, while millennials increased their credit card debt by 2.5% to an average of nearly $7,000.
But those reserves are tapped out. Americans’ cash balances, which saw a major bump from pandemic-era stimulus and savings, have reached their lowest levels since April 2020. While bank accounts might look like they did pre-pandemic, the prices of everything else do not, as inflation continues to mostly eat up wage gains and hit Americans’ wallets.
Just take a look at how much credit card debt everyone is accruing. Consumer loans, made up mostly of credit card debt, have risen consistently from a pandemic low in April 2021. The most recent data shows loans exceeding $994 billion, up from April 2021’s low of around $736 billion.
The student-loan payment pause led to a surge in other forms of consumer debt. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, nearly 8% of student loan borrowers are behind on other payments, a higher percentage than pre-pandemic times. This may worsen once the moratorium on payments is lifted in September.
For the first quarter of 2023, household debt was also on the rise, given higher student loan, mortgage, and auto balances. Total household debt increased 0.9% for the quarter to just over $17 billion, according to the Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit.
It’s another sign of how the pandemic, and its cash-fueled economic recovery, have completely changed the economy’s frame of reference.
“The professional economy watchers and analysts, Fed and elsewhere, are having this existential crisis of what is good, what is bad, and what can we know about the future?” Aaron Terrazas, chief economist at Glassdoor, previously told Insider.
This data all shows a disconnect between Americans running out of money and the broader economy. Even with wages trending higher, inflation coming down, and GDP expected to grow for the quarter, many Americans are still struggling to pay down their bills and maintain savings. Consumer confidence levels are at two-year highs, but paying off credit card debt remains a continued stressor.
If the pandemic was a great economic reckoning, and the year or so after marked by workers demanding better, the latest iteration of the economy might be best described as grumpy: Even strong economic data isn’t enough to keep Americans above water. After all, a strong jobs report or growing GDP can’t be cashed in when you’re paying for inflation-driven markups at the grocery store.
Have you been struggling to pay off your credit card debt? Contact these reporters at jkaplan@insider.com and nsheidlower@insider.com.