US credit-card debt increased by the most in 20 years

In an economy that has produced the highest inflation rate since the early 1980s, Americans are struggling to keep up with day-to-day expenses.

More consumers are now relying on credit cards to get by, which has helped propel total credit card debt to $930 billion in the third quarter, just shy of the all-time record, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Credit card balances climbed more than 15% from a year earlier, the largest annual jump in more than 20 years.

“With prices more than 8% higher than they were a year ago, it is perhaps unsurprising that balances are increasing,” the Fed researchers wrote in a blog post. “The real test, of course, will be to follow whether these borrowers will be able to continue to make the payments on their credit cards.”