Five Statistics That Directly Impact the Availability of Unsecured Personal Loans

[Jul 8, 2009.]

 

Unsecured personal loans are available. Click here to verify that fact. However, unsecured personal loans are not exactly flowing like water, and credit conditions are changing daily, even hourly.

Here are five statistics that anyone looking to obtain an unsecured personal loan can use to gain an understanding of what's going on in the overall credit markets:

1. Unemployment

Now officially at a 26-year high of 9.6 percent, unemployment creates a need for unsecured personal loans, but makes it harder for lenders to grant them. Loss or potential loss of income is the worst scenario not only for a personal loan borrower, but for a personal loan lender. When the employment situation improves, personal loan availability should, too--and possibly in dramatic fashion.

2. Consumer Credit

Consumers are using debit cards more and credit cards less, all the data suggests, including today's news that consumer credit use declined for the fourth straight month in May. While some worry that less spending could prevent a recovery, less debt for more consumers is probably a good thing overall for returning the U.S. credit markets to health.

3. Number of Negative News Stories About Credit Card Companies

OK, this number isn't published in the newspaper, but what is published in the newspaper, these days, is plenty of negative stories about credit card companies. They're raising fees, they're cutting limits, they're suffering heavy defaults, and so on. Therefore, fixed rate personal loans are looking very appealing right now for a lot of consumers. And more consumers should mean, over time, more suppliers.

4. Fed Funds Rate

Without getting into too much esoteric detail, the Fed funds rate is a major tool used by the U.S. government to control interest rates. Right now, the Fed funds rate is zero to 0.25 percent. That's very low, and very important to restoring a healthy credit market or something resembling it.

5. Refinance Statistics

Big loans and small loans often come from the same sources, so any signal that banks and consumers are coming together to get refinances done may be a good thing for seekers of unsecured personal loans. It means that lenders are feeling more comfortable.

 

About Author:

Andrew Freiburghouse is a writer and businessman. He has worked as a magazine reporter, tax preparer, screenwriter, copywriter, and loan officer. He graduated from Santa Clara University in 1999 with a B.A. in English. Andrew was born and raised in the City of Los Angeles.