How San Diegans are dealing with debt
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- Past due debts for Californians are on the rise and are close to a 10-year high, that’s according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. So, if you are letting a handful of bills pile up, you are not alone with an average Californian carrying $1,660 of overdue bills.
“You are taking on debt that you can’t pay back, and if you are falling behind on it and it’s affecting your credit, that’s a real problem,” said Daniel Enemark, the Chief Economist for the Policy Innovation Center San Diego.
The consumer bill payment data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is sounding an alarm bell for not just California, which is doing far better than states like Texas and Florida with their residence carrying 41 percent and 54 percent more debt than Californians, respectively.
Economists are not using the recession word just yet, but here in San Diego, it’s not just the debt that is worrying jobs are also disappearing.
“The most recent data we have is for June and June was the worst June we have on record, since we started counting in 1990 for San Diego County.…What I mean by worst is we went from a 4% unemployment rate to a 4.9%, a jump of almost a full percentage point is really unheard of in June,” said Enemark.
While economists pour over the data, the feeling at the grocery store is clear.
“It’s definitely hitting people hard, spending this much on groceries isn’t easy,” said Tyler Arms, a freight broker directly effected by the Trump's tariffs.
“I feel nervous about what the future holds,” said Jess Harris.
Harris is a nurse and says she sees the choices her patients are forced to make.
“I start noticing that patients are going too long between doctors’ appointments and visits because they can’t afford them as much. They have to prioritize things like keeping food on the table for their family and less so on necessary medical procedures,” said Harris.
“Everybody feels the stress but like I said you just got to keep your head down and keep grinding,” said Arms.
