April’s Consumer Credit Report lands Wednesday, a measure of just how much the U.S.’s total outstanding credit card debt. A March jump of $26.5 billion is expected to be followed by another jump of $21.6 billion on the increase. There has been a big, upward trend since the middle of 2021, and 2023 has risen even faster than previous years. An interesting bit of information is that for the first time in 20 years, for the first quarter in 2023 Americans did not reduce credit card spending, which goes against the usual pattern of heavy spending in the fourth quarter and paying down debt in the first of the following year. That suggests that U.S. households are feeling the strain from higher prices and inflation. *
The price of oil jumped sharply Monday following Saudi Arabia’s announcement to cut oil production another 1 million barrels daily in July. The pledge created a riff in the recent meeting of OPEC+ (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), whose other members chose to stick to their previously announced cuts for the rest of 2023. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 2.7% to $78.14 early Monday, still down 9% so far this year. One reason for the steady drop in price has been Russia’s continued pumping of cheaper crude, adding to a global surplus and undermining Saudi Arabia’s efforts to boost energy prices.
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