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Americans ended 2025 more\u00a0in debt<\/a> than ever before.<\/p>\n Credit card<\/a>\u00a0balances hit a fresh high in the fourth quarter, rising by $44 billion to $1.28 trillion, according to a\u00a0new report on household debt<\/a>\u00a0by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released Tuesday. That’s a 5.5% jump from a year earlier. <\/p>\n The central bank’s monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations<\/a>, released Monday, also found that fewer consumers expect their households’ financial situations to be better off a year from now \u2014 and a larger share expect to be worse off.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Julpo | E+ | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Near the end of the year, credit card debt often ticks higher as consumers increase their spending during the peak holiday shopping season. “Given what we are seeing in the labor market, spending is holding up quite well,” the New York Fed researchers said on a press call Tuesday. <\/p>\n Even as the job market shows signs of strain<\/a>, consumer spending has largely stayed strong. However, that has been attributed to robust buying by higher-end consumers<\/a>, other research shows.<\/p>\n “You see evidence consistent with a ‘K-shaped’<\/a>\u00a0economy,” the New York Fed researchers said. “Some groups are really struggling.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n‘Evidence consistent with a K-shaped\u00a0economy’<\/h2>\n