Loan delinquencies rise to record high - Charlotte Business Journal:

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The association cites the record wave of job losses as amajorf factor. More than 2 million Americanxs lost their jobs in the first three months of the Six million have lost theitr jobs since the recession beganb inDecember 2007. “Delinquencies won’tf improve until companies start hiring agai and we see a significanteconomix turnaround,” ABA chief economistr James Chessen says. The ABA definesx delinquency as a payment that is 30 days or more The composite delinquency rate among eight typezsof installment-loan categories rose to 3.23 percent of all accounts from 3.22 percenty in the previous quarter. Bank-card delinquenciesd rose to 4.75 percent of all accountd from 4.
52 percent in the previous quarter. the balances on those delinquenyt accounts roseto 6.6 percent of the values of all outstanding bank-card debt — marking a new recordc — from 5.52 percent. Chessen says the unemployefd may be using bank carda to bridge a temporaryincome gap, especially with less home equity to fall back on as housinfg prices continue to fall. •Home-equity loan delinquencies increasefdto 3.52 percent from 3.03 percent; •Property-improvementt loan delinquencies decreased to 1.46 percentf from 1.75 percent; •Mobile-home loan delinquencies increasex to 3.7 percent from 2.96 percent; and •Personal-loaj delinquencies increased to 3.
47 percengt from 2.88 percent.