Household Net Worth Suffers Biggest Drop In History While Business Debt Explodes Most On Record Heisenberg Report
If you were wondering what the grand total for US business debt is following a quarter during which firms were forced to issue bonds and tap credit facilities to prepare for the worst economic downturn in a century, the answer is $16.8 trillion.
That figure comes courtesy of the biggest annualized jump in total nonfinancial business debt in history.
Specifically, firms added debt at a torrid 18.8% pace (annualized) in the first quarter, as COVID-19 imperiled businesses large and small, driving the economy to the brink of an outright depression. Government debt rose at an annualized 14.3% rate.
Yikes.