NEW YORK—The total debt shouldered by Americans has hit another record high, rising to $13.5 trillion in the last quarter, while an unusual jump in student-loan delinquencies could provide another signal that the U.S. economic expansion is growing old.
Flows of student debt into serious delinquency—of 90 or more days—rose to 9.1 percent in the third quarter from 8.6 percent in the previous quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported last week. That propelled the biggest jump in the overall U.S. delinquency rate in seven years.
