Americans find themselves increasingly burdened by credit-card debt as the relentless grip of chronic inflation tightens its hold on the cost of essential goods. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit was just released, showing a record high 17 percent year-over-year increase in credit-card balances during the first quarter of 2023. 
However, the quarterly change remained flat at last quarter’s record of $986 billion. Still, the lack of a decline is unprecendeted for this time of the year.
“Normally, credit-card balances fall from the fourth quarter to the first quarter as the dust settles on the holiday shopping season and consumers prioritize debt payoff as a New Year’s resolution,” Senior Bankrate industry analyst Ted Rossman told The Epoch Times. “In fact, this is the only time since the New York Fed started tracking these figures in 2003 that credit-card balances did not fall from the fourth quarter to the first quarter.”…