By Hugh Son
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April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Consumers fell behind on car, credit- card and home-equity loans at the highest level in 15 years, another sign the U.S. economy is slowing, according to the American Bankers Association's quarterly survey.
Payments at least 30 days past due increased across all eight categories of loans tracked during the fourth quarter, the Washington-based group said today in a statement. Late loans in the quarter climbed 21 basis points to 2.65 percent of all accounts in a consumer-loan index created by the group.
``It's an indication of the degree of stress consumers are facing right now,'' said Nigel Gault, director of U.S. research at Lexington, Massachusetts-based Global Insight Inc. ``People overextended themselves, they took out loans they thought weren't a problem as long as house prices kept rising.''
Lenders including American Express Co., the third-biggest credit-card network, and Capital One Financial Corp. doubled reserves for soured debt in the fourth quarter amid the worst housing slump in a quarter century. Overdue consumer loans were the highest since 1992, the ABA said, a year after a U.S. recession ended. Delinquencies are a lagging indicator that often don't peak until late in an economic slowdown.
Overdue payments will keep rising in the first half of this year as ``food and gas prices remain stubbornly high and income growth is anemic,'' ABA chief economist James Chessen said.
Lenders' Shares Fall
Washington Mutual Inc., the largest U.S. savings and loan, fell 27 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $11.49 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading at 4:09 p.m. Wachovia Corp., the fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets, fell 24 cents to $28.37.
The rise in the ABA index was driven by late payments for car loans, which make up two-thirds of all consumer loans with fixed balances, Chessen said in the statement. Auto loan delinquencies rose to 1.9 percent from 1.81 percent. Overdue mobile-home payments rose to 2.92 percent from 2.87 percent.
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Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awJl.QTOJbKw&refer=home 
