The total amount of debt held by American households climbed in 2016 by the most in a decade, driven by broad and steady increases in credit card debt, auto and student loans, and a fourth-quarter surge to the highest amount of mortgage originations since before the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Total household debt climbed by $226 billion in the final three months of 2016, according to a report yesterday from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Total household debts are now just $99 billion shy of the all-time peak of $12.7 trillion set in the third quarter of 2008 just as the banking system began crashing down. The New York Fed estimates that debt is highly likely to set a new record in 2017. The New York Fed doesn’t adjust its figures for inflation. When measured against the broader economy, total household borrowing today is 67 percent of nominal gross domestic product, compared with about 85 percent in 2008.
