The Duration Of Unemployment As Provided By The Bureau Of Labor Statistics

Many organizations that lend money use this rate as a guideline for the "interest rates they charge customers" (Streissguth 2011). To determine the prime rate, the Wall Street Journal first carries out surveys of 30 large banks to determine the " 'consensus ' prime rate" (Streissguth 2011). The prime rate is also determined in part by the federal funds rate, which is decided by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), so the prime rate normally changes when the federal funds rate changes (Streissguth 2011). Generally, lenders will keep their total interest rates above the prime rate (Streissguth 2011). According to Patrick Gillespie, the FOMC is likely to raise the federal funds rate in September. He believes they are putting off raising rates due to low inflation along with the rise of the dollar (Gillespie 2015). Consumer Debt Consumer debt can be a good thing because it allows consumers to build credit so that they have an easier time borrowing money. However, too much consumer debt is a bad thing when consumers run out of money to make payments on their loans. Overall, consumer debt is trending upwards. Economist Aimee Picchi says "new credit card debt will rise 5 percent in 2015". Senior Economist Ivan Vidangos ' article "Deleveraging and Recent Trends in Household Debt" shows that consumer credit has been growing since 2008, which has mainly been driven by "strong growth in student loans and in auto loans". Household debt has also