最新报告显示，随着财务压力增大，越来越多的美国人转向信用卡。
Americans are increasingly turning to credit cards as financial pressures mount, new reports show.
据纽约联邦储备银行周二发布的最新家庭债务报告，信用卡余额合计在第三季度增加了220亿美元，达到创纪录的1.29万亿美元，较去年同期上升4.2%。
Collectively, credit card balances climbed by $22 billion in the third quarter to a record $1.29 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's latest household debt report, released Tuesday. Balances are up 4.2% from a year earlier.
包括抵押贷款、汽车贷款和学生贷款在内的家庭债务总额，在7月至9月期间也增加了3340亿美元，达到创纪录的19.1万亿美元。
Total household debt, including mortgages, auto loans and student loans, also expanded by $334 billion for the July-to-September period to a record $19.1 trillion.
纽约联储研究人员周二在一次电话新闻发布会上表示：“总体债务一直在增长。这确实反映了外面存在的财务困难。”另一份来自TransUnion的季度信贷行业洞察报告发现，每位消费者的平均信用卡余额现在为6678美元，同比上升2.4%。持有信用卡的人数增加了2%，达到1.78亿人，此前为1.748亿人。
"Overall debt has been growing," the New York Fed researchers said on a press call Tuesday. "This does reflect financial hardship out there." The average credit card balance per consumer now stands at $6,678, up 2.4% year over year, a separate quarterly credit industry insights report from TransUnion found. The number of people with credit cards rose 2% to 178 million from 174.8 million.
消费者往往转向信用卡，部分原因是信用卡比其他类型的贷款更容易获得——尽管根据LendingTree的数据，新信用卡优惠的平均利率约为24%。信用卡年利率因卡片类型、发卡机构和借款人的信用状况而异。
Consumers often turn to credit cards in part because they are more accessible than other types of loans — even though the average interest rate on a new credit card offer is about 24%, according to data from LendingTree. Credit card APRs vary depending on the type of card, the issuer and the borrower's creditworthiness.
TransUnion全球研究与咨询高级副总裁Charlie Wise表示：“信用卡继续是借款最昂贵的方式之一。”
"Credit cards continue to be one of the most expensive ways to borrow," said Charlie Wise, TransUnion's senior vice president of global research and consulting.
随着时间的推移，越来越多的新信用卡发放给了收入较低和信用评分较低的借款人，而“这些账户现在显示出更高的违约水平”，纽约联储研究人员在一篇相关博客文章中表示。
Over time, an increasing share of new credit cards have gone to borrowers with lower incomes and credit scores, and "those accounts are now showing higher levels of distress," the New York Fed researchers said in a corresponding blog post.
纽约联储研究人员在电话新闻发布会上表示，在信用卡发卡机构在新冠疫情期间放宽了贷款标准之后，随后几年违约率上升。
After credit card issuers loosened their lending standards during the Covid pandemic, delinquency rates rose in the years that followed, the New York Fed researchers said on the press call.
纽约联储表示：“宏观经济逆风——即高通胀和借款成本上升——挤压了消费者，通胀超过了低收入群体的工资增长。”
"Macroeconomic headwinds — namely high inflation and rising borrowing costs — have squeezed consumers, with inflation outpacing wage growth for low-income brackets," according to the New York Fed.
与此同时，生活成本继续攀升，美国人为杂货和汽油等必需品支付更多费用。
Meanwhile, the cost of living continues to climb, with Americans paying more for essentials such as groceries and gas.
顽固的通胀已持续数年，使许多家庭陷入可负担性挤压。美国劳工统计局周二还报告称，10月商品和服务成本再次超出预期上涨。
Stubborn inflation has now stretched on for years, putting many households in an affordability squeeze. Costs for goods and services rose more than expected again in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported Tuesday.
“更高的价格和更高的利率让更多人陷入债务，”非营利信用咨询机构“金钱管理国际”的首席消费金融分析师泰德·罗斯曼说。
"Higher prices and higher rates have pushed more people into debt," said Ted Rossman, principal consumer finance analyst at Money Management International, a nonprofit credit counseling agency.
疫情以来，债务余额持续膨胀，尽管增长率现在正在放缓，但“从家庭财务角度看，很多损害已经造成，”罗斯曼说。
Balances have continued to swell in the wake of the pandemic, and even though the growth rate is now slowing, "from a household finance standpoint, a lot of damage has been done," Rossman said.
这些报告紧随民主党在中期选举中取得强劲成绩之后，当时许多选民表达了对美国经济的不满，据无党派智库“世纪基金会”首席经济学家凯尔·穆尔说。
The reports come on the heels of the Democrats' strong midterm results, when many voters expressed their dissatisfaction with the U.S. economy, according to Kyle Moore, chief economist at the nonpartisan think tank The Century Foundation.
“周二众多选举结果的共同主线是认识到，美国经济正在辜负美国家庭，”穆尔说，指的是选举日。
"The throughline connecting so many of Tuesday's outcomes was a recognition that the American economy is failing American families," Moore said, referring to Election Day.