As gold and silver consolidate recent gains, this is how broke people are in the United States, plus a look at housing.

LATE LOAN PAYMENTS ON THE RISE
(King World News) – Gerald Celente:  Many Americans’ credit scores rose as the COVID War set in and people paid down debt when there were fewer options for spending.

Now, even among consumers whose credit scores rose during the COVID era, loan delinquency rates are rising.

In this year’s first quarter, the rate of late payments on loans and credit cards taken out in mid-2021 is close to the pre-COVID rate among borrowers with credit scores 25 points lower, an analysis by the Transunion credit reporting service found.

For vehicle loans, the rates were comparable to those for earlier borrowers with scores 10 points lower.

Household budgets have been steadily stretched over the past 18 months as prices and interest rates have both risen while wage increases have not kept up.

Many credit cards are charging higher interest rates and more card users are carrying balances from month to month instead of paying them off, even using cards to buy necessities.

Credit scores were “artificially inflated” during the COVID War, Brendan Coughlin, Citizens Financial Group’s chief of consumer banking.

Households received thousands of dollars in federal subsidies and people had fewer chances to spend. More people used the money to get ahead of their debts.

“During a normal economy, you would have seen a few more folks tip over,” he added…….more here