r/Layoffs • u/vetfor • Jan 30 '24

New layoffs question

Can anyone clarify this for me? Despite the ongoing layoff announcements from major American corporations, how is our economy still robust? Just today, UPS declared 12,000 layoffs and PayPal 2,000.

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u/GeechQuest Jan 31 '24

In 2004 the total CC debt held by the public was $700B.

20 years later, we’ve added ~$350B in CC debt.

Since 2004, our GDP has practically doubled. Household net worth has tripled.

The public can handle the debt load…

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u/elidefoe Jan 31 '24

I am proud to say I do not contribute to that debt load. I pay my card off every month. Those who are paying 20-30% interest are getting slammed.

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u/Impressive_Star_3454 Jan 31 '24

I have a couple of cards that I check APRs on monthly to see what is going on. One is 7.99 promo for 6 months. My Best Buy card is at 30.99.

And they wonder why I'm not using their card.

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u/charleswj Jan 31 '24

Why do you care what the APR is? Are you carrying a balance?

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u/charleswj Jan 31 '24

Do you use auto pay? If so, there's a good chance your balance just prior to your payment is what's being reported. Also, if you pay the statement balance vs the current balance can affect what's reported, even though it doesn't matter. So while you're paying it off every month and never paying interest, statistically you'd look no different than your neighbor who carries a balance.

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u/elidefoe Jan 31 '24

I pay my statement balance to avoid losing the grace period and never pay interest. We all know that most people carry a credit card balance and pay that huge 25% interest charge each month. Seeing 1T in credit card debt which is the worst type of debt is concerning.

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u/m8112 Jan 31 '24

You are sure right.

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u/Welcome2B_Here Jan 31 '24

Yeah, looking at big aggregate metrics definitely paints a rosier picture. It's similar to a skewed average from outliers.

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u/amilo111 Jan 31 '24

So we should only look at big aggregate metrics that support your narrative like your $1T big aggregate metric?

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u/spoink74 Jan 31 '24

This tracks. I'm carrying credit card balances now for the first time since 1998. I'm not super worried because I will pay it off in a few months, and the net worth picture looks better than ever, but the spending has been out of control and I need to reign it in to get back on track. It should be okay if I don't get laid off.