WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Delinquency rates for loans and leases at U.S. banks increased to a record 6.49% in the second quarter from 5.58% in the first quarter, the Federal Reserve announced Monday. The Fed began collecting the data in 1985. The charge-off rate rose from a record 2.03% to a record 2.65%. Before this recession, the highest charge-off rate had been 1.70%. Delinquency rates for real estate loans rose from 7.10% to 8.27%, the highest since the data began in 1987. Delinquency rates for commercial and industrial loans rose from 3.12% to 3.73%, while delinquencies for consumer loans rose to from 4.69% to 4.92%, also a 22-year high. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/delinquency-rate-on-bank-loans-up-to-record-649-2009-08-17 Federal Reserve Statistical Release Charge-off and Delinquency Rates http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/chargeoff/chgallnsa.htm
Green shoots! On a serious note, there is bounty of reasons we're headed off the cliff for another Great Depression, and scant few reasons why we could avoid one.