During the boom years, Americans borrowed and binged. The hangover has been long and throbbing, but after five years of water and aspirin, household finances are looking healthier. In the fourth quarter of 2012 the average "debt-service ratio" for American households fell to its lowest level since records began in 1980. That is, households were spending less of their disposable income on paying interest on mortgages, consumer loans and other types of credit than at any point in the past three decades. New figures released by the Federal Reserve show a small rise in the first quarter of 2013, but the household debt-service burden appears to have bottomed out.
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