Student debt increases to $1.6 trillion
Student loan borrowers spent the first half of the year hoping their balances would be reduced, if not erased, by the end of the summer. Many people spent the second half of the year scrambling to figure out how to restart payments.
By the end of the third quarter, borrowers had total debt of $1.6 trillion, according to data from the New York Fed. September was the first month since 2020 that interest accrued on federal student loans, and borrowers had to restart payments in October.
President Joe Biden’s effort to provide up to $20,000 in relief per borrower was blocked by the Supreme Court in June, but the administration remains committed to providing public service loan forgiveness, income-based repayment programs, and disability discharge programs. grants exemptions to 3.6 million Americans through improvements in
Mortgage interest rates reach 8%
When the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hit 8% in October, people already exhausted by the current state of the housing market may have felt a new level of stress. The national average has not reached 8% since 2000.
Just three years ago, in October 2020, interest rates were comfortably below 3%. But as inflation rose in 2021 and 2022, the Fed stepped in to try to rein in inflation by raising its target interest rate, raising borrowing costs.
As inflation slows, the Fed is able to pause rate hikes, bringing mortgage rates below 7% as of November. Although mortgage rates and home prices are still higher than many prospective buyers would like, interest rates could continue to fall next year as the Federal Reserve is expected to begin lowering rates.
Inflation rate falls to 3.1%
The 12-month Consumer Price Index, which tracks price changes for all items, continued to decline nearly every month through 2023, reaching 3.1% in November. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says it’s still below the Fed’s goal of about 2%, but it’s down from 6.4% in January.
Although not rising as rapidly as in 2022, prices for everyday items from food to gasoline remained high through 2023.
Credit card debt reaches $1.08 trillion
Unemployment rate remains around 3.6%
Household wealth increased by 37%
Do you feel wealthier than before the coronavirus pandemic began? The median net worth of American households will increase from 2019 to 2022, according to the latest Consumer Finance Survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Board. It increased by 37% during the year.
The survey, conducted every three years, found that the median net worth of all U.S. households will reach $192,900 in 2022, up from $141,100 in 2019.
The average net worth of U.S. households increased from $868,000 in 2019 to $1.06 million in 2022, the study found. Keep in mind that average net worth may be skewed by the ultra-high net worth population, which is small in number but rich in assets. The richest 1% of Americans own 23% of the country’s household wealth, according to Federal Reserve data.
Technology industry lays off more than 250,000 people
It’s been a turbulent year for the tech industry, with 260,509 jobs cut as of Dec. 22, according to tracking website Layoffs.fyi. This is nearly 100,000 more employees than the total layoffs in 2022, the website reported.
The 1,175 companies that laid off employees over the course of the year include tech giants such as Amazon, Meta and Microsoft.
Fed interest rate hikes and fears of a coming recession have made an industry that has enjoyed years of near-unrestricted growth especially vulnerable to cuts.
However, it’s not all bad news for technology. The explosion of artificial intelligence has led to a 1,000% year-over-year increase in relevant job postings on the job market Upwork.
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