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New York Federal Reserve data that was published on May 15 shows that credit card delinquencies kept rising from January to March, Fox Business reports. In Q1 2024, delinquencies reached 8.9% at an annualized rate. America hasn't seen this high of a percentage of serious credit card delinquencies since 2012, Fox News reports. "In the first quarter of 2024, credit card and auto loan transition rates into serious delinquency continued to rise across all age groups.", "An increasing number of borrowers missed credit card payments, revealing worsening financial distress among some households.", Joelle Scally, regional economic principal within the Household and Public Policy Research Division at the New York Fed, via Fox Business. Researchers aren't sure why delinquencies are so high since the unemployment rate is low, but they have a few theories. One of those theories is that consumers drained savings throughout the pandemic but continue to spend at high levels. Another theory is that some Americans switched to jobs with lower salaries. Additionally, credit card eligibility may have been expanded for many whose student debt wasn't being reported to credit bureaus amid the pandemic. "These are all kinds of complex issues. We don't exactly know what's behind the increase of these delinquency rates. But it's definitely something that we're tracking." New York Fed researchers, via Fox Business. The average annual percentage rate for credit cards hit a record of 20.72% recently

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