NEW YORK – Credit card companies can thank the economic recession and rising unemployment for what will be a record 8% charge-off of uncollected debt next year.

A recently released Standard & Poor's report "Over Our Heads: Can U.S. Consumers Repay Their Debts in the Recession?" finds that since the late 1990′s Americans have outspent their incomes and acquired record debt particularly on credit cards.

According to the report's author S&P Chief Economist David Wyss, our savings rate, which sunk to .9% in November, combined with zero-rate auto-financing deals and low mortgage rates have further aggravated the build-up of debt.

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