US household debt up as home mortgages rise

Washington

THE total debt held by US households surged in 2017 to more than US$13 trillion, the fifth straight annual increase, amid a continued rise in home mortgages and car loans, according to data released on Tuesday.

But nearly a decade after the start of the global financial crisis, the hangover from the US housing market collapse is still evident in some areas of the county, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said in its quarterly report.