{"id":1611998,"date":"2022-08-18T06:32:07","date_gmt":"2022-08-18T10:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1611998"},"modified":"2022-08-18T06:32:14","modified_gmt":"2022-08-18T10:32:14","slug":"americans-are-borrowing-more-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/americans-are-borrowing-more-than-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans Are Borrowing More Than Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Famericans-are-borrowing-more-than-ever%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1611998&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"code-block code-block-8\">\n<p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p3\">President <span class=\"s2\">Biden<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/08\/10\/biden-wh-claims-us-has-zero-inflation-despite-high-rate\/\">claimed<\/a> on Wednesday, August 10 that, \u201ctoday we received news that our economy had zero percent inflation in the month of July \u2013 zero percent,\u201d despite the fact that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the measure of inflation, was up 8.5 percent versus July 2021.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>While the CPI was down from its 9.1 percent June number, it is still extremely high, and certainly not zero.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The decrease in acceleration of the inflation rate was driven primarily by a decrease in gas prices. Per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-08-10\/us-inflation-decelerates-more-than-forecast-on-gas-price-drop\"><span class=\"s2\">Bloomberg<\/span><\/a>, \u201cwhile a drop in gasoline prices is good news for Americans, their cost of living is still painfully high, forcing many to load up on credit cards and drain savings.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Per the <span class=\"s2\">US Bureau<\/span> of Labor Statistics, the price of gasoline <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/news.release\/cpi.nr0.htm#:~:text=The%2520Consumer%2520Price%2520Index%2520for%2520Urban%2520Wage%2520Earners%2520and%2520Clerical,percent%2520prior%2520to%2520seasonal%2520adjustment.\">dropped<\/a> 7.7 percent in July, but is still up 44 percent for the twelve months ending July 2022, with all energy commodities up 44.9 percent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">On the day the CPI numbers were released (August 10), the national <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/personal-finance\/gas-is-under-4-a-gallon-nationwide-how-much-lower-will-it-go\/\"><span class=\"s2\">average<\/span><\/a> for a gallon of gas was $4.03, down from record highs of $5.02 per gallon, but significantly higher than the August 2019 average of $2.70 per gallon.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>That is nearly $80 more a month to fill-up a 15-gallon tank on a weekly basis, nearly $1,000 more per year. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/07\/26\/joe-biden-mocked-for-tweet-taking-credit-for-falling-gas-prices\/\"><span class=\"s2\">Biden<\/span><\/a> administration has taken credit for the decrease in the price of gas \u2013 even though the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2022\/04\/15\/bidens-claim-70-inflation-jump-was-due-putins-price-hike\/\">stated reason<\/a> for the original increase in the price of gas was the \u201c<span class=\"s2\">Putin<\/span> Price Hike.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/aaa-says-high-gas-prices-115018441.html?guccounter=1&#038;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&#038;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMdnvpG6jLSb5Ete-vfg-p37rW6obahlKfRMwpoebJ5JKHMbbX3YihV55W49tAb2huZGSKGbHCEyqQ2lBA6_TrVSbGdxxJXLmBleJ6l_k5iSJdNragzOV-lgdRcKxs7KeKLYo2AFzjoFeSGCLQvDYAqdBvEa9SdqyCSa2e4OE8MK\"><span class=\"s2\">decrease<\/span><\/a> in the price of gas is actually due to a reduction in demand, as Americans put off summer driving vacations, something many can no longer afford. In addition, the futures <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/energy\/us-gasoline-prices-are-finally-falling-why-2022-07-14\/\"><span class=\"s2\">markets<\/span><\/a> are worried about the US economy and a further decline in demand as the recession continues to take hold of the economy.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The strong dollar has also helped to drive down demand as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">So, if the price of gas is down, what is driving 8.5 percent inflation? The two primary drivers are the cost of food and the cost of housing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The \u201cfood at home category, which tracks the cost of groceries, surged <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/economy\/inflation-hits-americans-grocery-bills-food-prices-accelerate\"><span class=\"s2\">13.1%<\/span><\/a> over the last year, the most significant increase since March 1979.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>This food <span class=\"s2\">inflation<\/span> is hitting basic staples, not just champagne and caviar. Staples such as eggs are up 38 percent, chicken is up 16.6 percent, milk 15.6 percent, potatoes 13.3 percent, rice 12.7 percent, and fresh fruits and vegetables 8.2 percent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The cost of shelter also continues to rise. \u201c<span class=\"s2\">Shelter<\/span> costs \u2013 which account for roughly one-third of the CPI\u2026have climbed 5.7%\u201d over the past year, the fastest since February 1991.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The impact on working-class Americans has been devastating, and the headlines are misleading. According to the U.S. Bureau of <span class=\"s2\">Labor Statistics<\/span>, \u201cnonfarm payroll employment rose by 528,000 in July and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5%.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2022\/08\/05\/jobs-report-july-2022\/\"><span class=\"s2\">corporate media<\/span><\/a> tells us that this is a huge success for President Biden.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>However, if you dig into the numbers, it is not all good news.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>There are two disturbing statistics contained in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/news.release\/empsit.nr0.htm\"><span class=\"s2\">BLS report<\/span><\/a>:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li3\">\u201cThe labor force participation rate, at 62.1%, and the employment-population ratio, at 60.8%\u2026 remain below their February 2020 values.\u201d<\/li>\n<li class=\"li3\">\u201cThe number of persons employed part time for economic reasons increased by 303,000 to 3.9 million in July.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The rise reflected the increase in the number of persons whose hours were cut due to slack work or business conditions.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p3\">This means that fewer people are participating in the workforce, which drives the unemployment rate down.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>And 3.9 million Americans are working at least two jobs just to make ends meet.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>This is unacceptable in the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The impact of the poorly performing economy is starting to show in the data.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">\u201cMidyear 2022 U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.attomdata.com\/news\/market-trends\/foreclosures\/attom-midyear-2022-u-s-foreclosure-market-report\/\"><span class=\"s2\">foreclosure<\/span><\/a> filings hit 164,581,\u201d an increase of 153 percent from the same time period a year ago. In addition, car repossessions are exploding. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.barrons.com\/articles\/recession-cars-bank-repos-51657316562\"><span class=\"s2\">Barron\u2019s,<\/span><\/a> vehicle repossessions have doubled among \u201cprime\u201d borrows, which includes \u201cborrowers with good credit scores.\u201d According to the same article, \u201cmost of the loans on recently repossessed cars originated in 2020 and 2021,\u201d showing that much of the COVID stimulus money was spent on cars people could not afford.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Sadly, it doesn\u2019t stop there. \u201cAn estimated 34 million US <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-08-01\/about-13-of-us-consumers-spent-more-than-they-earned-this-year#xj4y7vzkg\"><span class=\"s2\">consumers<\/span><\/a>, or roughly 13%, spent more than they earned in the past six months, underscoring how Americans are having difficulty managing their finances amid decades-high inflation.\u201d <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">According to the same article, 55.6 percent of Americans have less than $5,000 in savings.This also helps to explain the rapid growth in US consumer borrowing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">\u201cUS consumer <span class=\"s2\">borrowing<\/span> surged in June, reflecting a jump in credit card balances and a record increase in non-revolving lending that includes auto and school loans.\u201d The same <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-08-05\/us-consumer-credit-jumps-more-than-40-billion-second-most-ever\">report<\/a> showed that \u201crevolving credit outstanding, which includes credit cards, increased $14.8 billion.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Non-revolving credit increases $25.4 billion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">To summarize, we are in a situation where Americans are working multiple jobs, spending more than they earn, losing their homes and cars, eroding their savings, and borrowing more than ever. All of this at a time when, according to President <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/08\/10\/biden-wh-claims-us-has-zero-inflation-despite-high-rate\/\"><span class=\"s2\">Biden<\/span><\/a>, \u201cwe have zero inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">It is likely to get even worse.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/08\/12\/fed-expected-to-stick-with-hawkish-interest-rate-hikes-strategists-say-.html\"><span class=\"s2\">Federal Reserve<\/span><\/a> is expected to \u201cstick with hawkish rate hikes until data show further slowing in inflation,\u201d with an increase of 50 or 75 basis points likely in September. This will make the exploding credit card debt more expensive to pay as interest rates rise and adjustable-rate mortgages more expensive, which will cause more foreclosures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Working Americans are suffering tremendously at this time of \u201czero inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-3\">\n<p><\/div>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-5\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/app.memberful.com\/join\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">  <\/a>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Biden claimed on Wednesday, August 10 that, \u201ctoday we received news that our economy had zero percent inflation in the month of July \u2013 zero percent,\u201d despite<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1896243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1611998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1611998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1611998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1611998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1896243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1611998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1611998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1611998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}