Credit card debt has reached a record high

U.S. households are carrying a record amount of credit card debt, according to a new Federal Reserve Bank of New York report released Tuesday. The bank said the data indicates financial distress is on the rise, particularly among younger and lower-income Americans.  Total household debt grew by $212 billion, rising to $17.5 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2023, the Fed's quarterly report on household debt and credit shows.  Credit card balances rose by $50 billion to hit a record $1.13 trillion. Inflation and higher interest rates are contributing to rising credit card debt, resulting in more Americans struggling to pay down their credit card balances, according to Bankrate's senior industry analyst Ted Rossman. "We're seeing more people carrying more debt for longer periods of time," Rossman said in an emailed statement. "For example, 49% of credit cardholders carry debt from month to month, up from 39% in 2021." Most analyses of Americans' financial health tend to tell a tale of two consumers. On one side are the roughly two-thirds of Americans who own their homes and those who've invested in the stock market and done substantially well. They generally had the savings cushion necessary to weather high inflation.