In “Me thinks the Stimulus Plan is no working” news, the big homies aka Americans are back at it again, this time because of soaring unemployment and the housing bust, the percentage of borrowers at least 30 days late paying a balance is the highest since the government began keeping records in 1974.

Oh for real EbenGregory…sounds like this is a natural consequence of mounting job losses in a weakening economy huh man?

Yes.

And now…here’s ABA Chief Economist James Chessen in a statement to CNN.com on why people are baying bills late: The economy is losing jobs by the thousands, and mass layoffs and pay cuts have exacerbated the credit crunch. Banks have heightened lending standards because of default risk, providing less credit to consumers. The number one driver of delinquencies is job loss. When people lose their jobs, they can’t pay their bills. Delinquencies won’t improve until companies start hiring again.

And now…CNN.com identifies where the big problems credit problems are: The overall ABA delinquency rate includes loans in eight categories: home equity, home improvement, indirect and direct auto, marine, RV, mobile home and personal. That overall rate does not include bank credit cards, for which delinquencies also hit a record high — rising to 4.75% of all accounts, compared with 4.52% in the fourth quarter of 2008. Similarly, the balances on those late credit card accounts rose to 6.6% of all outstanding bank card debt, marking another record high. This could indicate that consumers are using bank cards to bridge temporary income loss, especially as falling housing prices continue to punish home equity. A report last week showed the economy shed a much-worse-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June — the first time in four months that the number of jobs lost rose from the prior month. The unemployment rate climbed to a fresh 26-year high at 9.5%.

Damn. Sh*t getting tighter. And now…

We gon’ make it, I think ice jewelry: When you get to the end of your rope…tie a knot and hold on.

This is EbenGregory.com…Culture. News. Truth.