At first blush this may not seem like a business issue, but then again, it's consumers financial health we're talking about.
Late payments on credit card bills edged up this past spring, when high energy prices were squeezing the finances of some people and making it hard to pay bills on time.
So much of the time purchasing is merely borrowing. When times get rough, cracks in the armor begin to show.
Consumers may be getting a break for the moment.
"The financial squeeze may ease a bit in the third quarter as the Fed has stopped raising rates and prices at the pump are down more than 17 percent since the end of June," (James) Chessen (the American Bankers Association's chief economist) said.
But it may be a bit of a mirage.
The cooling of the once-hot housing market, meanwhile, has important implications on consumers and the overall economy, Chessen said.
Consumers who watched their homes rise rapidly in value over the last several years were inclined to spend and borrow against their homes - treating them like cash machines - to support their spending ways. But home prices have since lost altitude.
And that is not good news. The party may be coming to an end.
The National Association of Realtors reported Monday that the annual price of existing homes declined in August for the first time in more than a decade.
Hopefully that will wake up some homeowners who have been spending like the proverbial drunken sailor.
"Up until now, rising home values have increased wealth, been a source of liquidity for borrowers and allowed consumers to spend out of savings," Chessen observed. "It's a different world now, and consumers will need to be more careful in managing their finances."
Here's hoping so.
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