LOS ANGELES —
New consumer credit data show that more Americans fell behind on their auto-loan payments in the third quarter, when back-to-school shopping and other needs traditionally put a strain on consumers’ wallets.
Credit reporting company TransUnion said Tuesday that the rate of U.S. auto-loan payments at least 60 days overdue rose to 0.38 percent from 0.33 percent in the second quarter.
The July-to-September delinquency rate was down 19 percent from the 0.47 percent rate a year earlier.
TransUnion says the uptick is likely only a seasonal blip.
The auto-loan delinquency rate has fallen on an annual basis for 12 consecutive quarters.
Since the housing collapse in 2007 and recession that followed, many borrowers have made keeping up with car payments a priority above paying their mortgage or other financial obligations.
AP story section
TransUnion: Late auto-loan payments rose in 3Q
- AP story section
-
-
Residents come home to pick up the pieces
MOORE, Okla. (AP) -- With her son holding her elbow, Colleen Arvin walked up her driveway to what was left of her house for 40 years. It was the 83-year-old grandmother's first time back at her home since a monstrous and deadly tornado ravaged her ne
-
Iowa lawmakers look to end legislative session
Iowa lawmakers are expected back in the state Capitol on Wednesday and legislative leaders say they are close to concluding the 2013 session.
-
Gas prices up 11 cents over past 2 weeks
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) -- The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has jumped 11 cents over the past two weeks. The Lundberg Survey of fuel prices released Sunday says the price of a gallon of regular is $3.66. Midgrade costs an average of $3.8
-
HIV-infected teacher's aide accused of molestation
ST. LOUIS -- An Illinois special-needs teaching assistant accused of molesting a teenage student in school while knowingly infected with HIV remained jailed Tuesday as police investigated another claim of similar misconduct by the man involving a dif
-
Tougher threshold recommended
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- States should cut their threshold for drunken driving by nearly half -- from .08 blood alcohol level to 0.5 -- matching a standard that has substantially reduced highway deaths in other countries, a U.S. safety board recommends. T
-
Scranton shared close bond
SCRANTON, Pa. -- NBC's long-running "The Office" was a faux documentary about cubicle life. The Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Co. didn't exist. Try telling that to merchants, tourism officials and regular folks here in the real-world city
-
King, Messiah: New baby names suggest high hopes
WASHINGTON — Talk about high expectations for a newborn: King and Messiah are among the fastest-rising baby names for American boys. They're just a little behind Major, the boy's name that jumped the most spots on the Social Security Administration
-
Crowds swoon, but Prince Harry is all business
The British soldier-prince is spending most of his week in the U.S. honoring the wounded and the dead of war, a salute that began Thursday at a land-mine exhibition in Congress at the side of one of America's most storied wounded warriors, Sen. John McCain.
-
Suspect in Ohio kidnappings due in court
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Three women found alive after a decade in captivity endured lonely, dark lives inside a dingy home where they were raped and allowed outside only a handful of times in disguises while walking to a garage steps away, investigators sa
-
Former US official describes Libya attack
A former top diplomat in Libya on Wednesday delivered a riveting minute-by-minute account of the chaotic events during the deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi last September, with a 2 a.m. call from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and confusion about the fate of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.
- More AP story section Headlines
-



