US household debt climbs to nearly $17.8T in Q2: Fed

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US household debt climbed to nearly $17.8 trillion in the second quarter of this year, according to a Federal Reserve report released Tuesday.

Total household debt rose by $109 billion, or 0.6%, in the April-June period of this year compared to the previous three-month period, according to the Fed's latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit.

Mortgage balances increased by $77 billion to $12.52 trillion and credit card balances rose by $27 billion to $1.14 trillion, while balances on auto loans climbed by $10 billion to $1.63 trillion in the second quarter.

"Over the last year, approximately 9.1% of credit card balances and 8.0% of auto loan balances transitioned into delinquency," the Fed said in a statement.

"Early delinquency transition rates for mortgages increased by 0.1 percentage point yet remained low by historic standards," it added.