Student debt rose to $1.6 trillion
Student loan debtors spent the first half of the yr hoping to see their balances reduced, if not erased, by the finish of the summer season. Many spent the second half of the yr scrambling to work out how they had been going to resume making payments.
By the finish of the third quarter, debtors wound up with a complete of $1.6 trillion in debt, in accordance to New York Fed data. September marked the first month federal student loans would accrue curiosity since 2020, and debtors had to resume funds in October.
Though President Joe Biden’s effort to relieve up to $20,000 per borrower was blocked by the Supreme Court in June, his administration has nonetheless granted forgiveness to 3.6 million Americans via enhancements to Public Service Loan Forgiveness, income-driven reimbursement and incapacity discharge packages.
Mortgage charges hit 8%
When average rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages hit 8% in October, these already exhausted with the state of the housing market could have seen their stress hit new ranges, too. The nationwide common hasn’t hit 8% since 2000.
Just three years earlier, in October 2020, charges had been sitting comfortably under 3%. But as inflation rose all through 2021 and 2022, the Fed stepped in to tame it by growing its goal fee, driving up the value to borrow money.
As inflation slowed, the Fed was in a position to pause its fee hikes and as of November, mortgage rates have crept back down under 7%. Though mortgage charges and residential costs stay larger than what many would-be patrons would really like to see, charges might proceed to come down subsequent yr, as the Fed is expected to start cutting.
Inflation cooled to 3.1%
The 12-month shopper value index, which tracks the change in costs throughout all objects, continued to fall almost each month via 2023, touchdown at 3.1% in November. It’s not fairly at the Fed’s goal of about 2% but, however it’s down from 6.4% in January of this yr, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While they don’t seem to be rising as rapidly as in 2022, costs on on a regular basis objects from groceries to fuel remained high through 2023.
Credit card debt hit $1.08 trillion
Unemployment fee hovered round 3.6%
Household wealth grew 37%
Do you are feeling wealthier than you had been earlier than the Covid-19 pandemic started? The median American family’s web value grew 37% between 2019 and 2022, the latest Survey of Consumer Finances carried out by the Federal Reserve discovered.
The survey, which is carried out each three years, discovered the median net worth among all U.S. households hit $192,900 in 2022, up from $141,100 in 2019.
The common web value amongst U.S. households rose to $1.06 million in 2022, up from $868,000 in 2019, the survey discovered. Keep in thoughts that common web value may be skewed by ultra-wealthy households, that are few in numbers however wealthy in belongings. The richest 1% of Americans personal 23% of the nation’s family wealth, according to Fed data.
Tech business lays off greater than 250,000 staff
It has been a tumultuous yr for the tech business, which has shed 260,509 jobs as of Dec. 22, in accordance to monitoring web site Layoffs.fyi. That’s almost 100,000 extra layoffs than all of 2022, the web site reviews.
The 1,175 firms that laid off staff all through the yr embrace tech giants reminiscent of Amazon, Meta and Microsoft.
The Fed’s rate of interest hikes and fears of a coming recession have made the business particularly vulnerable to cuts after years of almost untethered progress.
It’s not all dangerous information for tech, nevertheless. The explosion of synthetic intelligence led to a (*7*) on work market Upwork.
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