NEW YORK - Borrowing by American households rose for the 21st straight quarter in the July-September period and is more than US$1 trillion above the prior peak set in 2008 at the outset of the global financial crisis, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said on Wednesday .
The New York Fed also released data showing that borrowers from mostly black neighbourhoods were having greater difficulty in paying their student loan debts than borrowers from mostly white and Hispanic neighbourhoods. "New credit extensions were strong in the third quarter of 2019, with auto loan originations reaching near-record highs and mortgage originations increasing significantly year-over-year," Donghoon Lee, a New York Fed research officer, said in a statement.
Student loans rose US$20 billion to US$1.5 trillion, with 9.26 per cent becoming past due by 90 days or more.