Federal Reserve Bulletin

Profits and Balance Sheet Developments at U.S. Commercial Banks in 2005

Figure 26. Credit card delinquency rate and household bankruptcy filings, 1993-2005. Data plotted as curves. The series on credit card delinquencies begins in 1993 at about 4.6 percent, drops to reach about 3.3 percent in mid-1994, rises to about 4.8 percent by late 1997, generally falls to reach about 4.4 percent in late 1999, rises to about 4.9 percent by mid-2001 and holds at about that level through late 2002, generally falls to about 3.9 percent in late 2005 and then drops to about 3.5 percent by year-end 2005. The number of bankruptcy filings per 100,000 persons starts in 1995 at about 300, generally rises to about 520 by early 1998 generally falls to about 400 by late 1999, generally rises to about 590 by late 2002, generally falls to about 490 in late 2004, then spikes to about 900 by year-end 2005.

Note: The data are quarterly and seasonally adjusted. The series shown for bankruptcy filings begins in 1995:Q1. For definition of delinquencies, refer to the note for figure 24.

Source: For bankruptcy filings, staff calculations based on data from Lundquist Consulting, Inc.  Return to article