Fewer consumer loans went bad as year closed, Wells Fargo says

Fewer consumer loans went bad as year closed

Wells Fargo reported Wednesday that the number of consumer loans who went bad during the last three months of last year went down 29 percent compared to one year earlier. Also late payments for loans in danger of default dipped for the first time in two years.

In other signs that Americans are improving their personal finances, the number of credit card defaults declined while there were less people making late bill payments.

Barclays Capital said that credit card payments for JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup were trending to be more prompt as 2010 drew to a close.

The upbeat news indicate that more Americans are slowly but surely getting their finances more secure. Economists hope that the trend continues as consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of the U.S. economy, and improvement in this area is crucial for a recovery. "There are signs of stability and growth," said JPMorgan chief executive officer Jamie Dimon.

Holiday season shopping posted the most robust sales since 2006. Automobile sales also bounced back last year, increasing 11 percent, the first sign of growth for the vehicle sector since 2005.

A Citi Investment Research & Analysis Report released earlier said that the latest economic data shows the "strongest showing for consumers since the peak years of the last expansion" and indicates that the U.S. economy is "near a threshold of self-sustaining growth."

Analysts are monitoring signs of an economic rebound that is sustainable on its own and less dependent on such measures like quantitative easing.

Posted by James Fried on Thursday January 20 2011, 12:12 AM EDT. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Finance. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0