“Consumer borrowing in January posts 1st gain in nearly a year, reflecting rise in auto loans (The Canadian Press via Yahoo! Canada News)” plus 2 more |
- Consumer borrowing in January posts 1st gain in nearly a year, reflecting rise in auto loans (The Canadian Press via Yahoo! Canada News)
- 2 car loans could kill your credit (Bankrate.com via Yahoo! Finance)
- Initiative Aims to Help Small Businesses Get Loans (FOX 8 WGHP)
Posted: 05 Mar 2010 01:16 PM PST By Martin Crutsinger, The Associated Press WASHINGTON - Consumer borrowing broke a record stretch of declines with a small increase in January as a boost in auto loans offset continued weakness in credit card borrowing. The small gain, the first in nearly a year, could be a signal that Americans are regaining confidence in the economy. The Federal Reserve reported Friday that consumer borrowing rose by $4.96 billion in January, surprising economists who were looking for borrowing to decline by $4.5 billion. It was the first gain after a record 11 straight declines and it was the largest increase since July 2008. The Federal Reserve reported Friday that consumer borrowing rose by $4.96 billion in January, surprising economists who were looking for borrowing to decline by $4.5 billion. It was the first gain after a record 11 straight declines and the largest increase since July 2008. In percentage terms, the overall increase was an advance of 2.43 per cent and followed a revised 2.23 per cent drop in December. The strength in January came from a $6.62 billion increase in borrowing for auto loans and other types of nonrevolving debt. That represented a 5.01 per cent gain and followed a 3.69 per cent rise in the auto loan category in December. Credit cards and other types of revolving credit fell $1.66 billion or 2.3 per cent. Even with the decline, it was a much smaller drop than the 12.9 per cent plunge in December. Credit card borrowing has now fallen for a record 16 straight months although the January decline was the smallest since July. The second straight month of increases in auto loans and the slowing of the decline in credit card borrowing could be an indication that consumers are beginning to feel more confident about boosting their spending and increasing debt. That development is seen as critical to providing support to the overall economy, which is still struggling to recover from the worst recession since the 1930s. The Labor Department reported earlier Friday that the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 per cent in February as employers shed 36,000 jobs, a smaller job loss than had been expected. The labour report was seen as a hopeful sign that the job market is finally starting to stabilize after a recession that saw the elimination of 8.4 million jobs. The rise in overall credit pushed consumer borrowing to a total of $2.45 trillion, still 4.2 per cent below where borrowing stood a year ago. The Fed's measure of consumer borrowing excludes home mortgages and other types of credit secured by real estate. The 11 straight months of declines in overall borrowing through December marked the longest such stretch on records that go back to the 1940s. While economists have for years worried about the low rate of personal savings in the United States, analysts have begun to be concerned that unless borrowing stabilized it could derail the recovery because it would crimp consumer spending. Such spending accounts for 70 per cent of total economic activity. Even consumers who would like to borrow have found it hard to get credit at banks. Many banks, hit by the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, have been pushed by regulators to tighten their lending standards. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
2 car loans could kill your credit (Bankrate.com via Yahoo! Finance) Posted: 05 Mar 2010 03:00 AM PST
If you must keep the Excursion, then call your lender and ask if the bank will change the terms of your car loan to reduce your payment. Keep in mind that you will most likely end up paying more in the long run if you take this approach. If your financial situation improves later, do what you can to pay down the car loan quicker. Because insurance costs also are an issue, consider some tips from Bankrate to reduce the insurance coverage if you continue to drive it. Another alternative is to stop driving it, unregister it and drop the coverage entirely as long as you have a secure place to store it. Bankrate's content, including the guidance of its advice-and-expert columns and this Web site, is intended only to assist you with financial decisions. The content is broad in scope and does not consider your personal financial situation. Bankrate recommends that you seek the advice of advisers who are fully aware of your individual circumstances before making any final decisions or implementing any financial strategy. Please remember that your use of this Web site is governed by Bankrate's Terms of Use. Read more Driving for Dollars columns and Bankrate auto stories. If you have a car question, e-mail it to us at Driving for Dollars. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
Initiative Aims to Help Small Businesses Get Loans (FOX 8 WGHP) Posted: 05 Mar 2010 02:58 PM PST WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - A new lending initiative aims to buck the recession-driven tightening of credit by making loans more readily available to small businesses. The initiative, announced Friday by Gov. Bev Perdue at Kingz Downtown Market, would help entrepreneurs who need capital to get their ideas off the ground and current business owners who need money just to stay in business through a dry spell. "Start-up capital is critical in small business, and it's been hard to come by these days," said Ernie Puglisi, a small-businessman who creates Web sites for medical professionals. "Establishing credit is important. A lot of times, you have to provide personal guarantees if you're a new business. It's very difficult to come by." Perdue said she wants to increase participation for Small Business Administration loans and other federally backed loan programs by North Carolina banks, plus strengthen loan applications by small businesses. "Recent statistics prove that small businesses account for all net job growth and so, if you remove the employment that entrepreneurial companies create, the overall growth of employment is actually negative," said Sam Funchess, the president of the Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship, a small business incubator in Greensboro. Funchess said the center sees at least 15 people per day who want to start a business. The state will hold a series of "banker boot camps" across North Carolina to coach loan officers and community banks on how to take advantage of SBA loans, Perdue said. Copyright © 2010, WGHP-TV ![]() Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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