It took almost a full decade, but Americans’ debt level has reached a new all-time high, surpassing the $12.68 trillion peak it reached in the fall of 2008 — the same time that the Great Recession was earning its place in the history books.
According to the latest data out of the New York Federal Reserve, total U.S. household debt hit $12.73 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2017, up $473 billion from a year ago and $50 billion above the previous 2008 record.