The US economy remains very fragile, even after trillion of dollars spent by government to save it. It seems now clear that tax payers money wouldn't be enough to stop the economic crisis partially at least routed in the sub prime system. Delinquent mortgages are often the first step of foreclosure. If in parallel the employment rate and the economy was doing good, this indicator wouldn't be as scarring as it is. Things are going together, and they aren't going in the right direction. I personally think that America isn't finding the short term solution to get back on track, which gives people the impression that tomorrow is probably not better than yesterday, so they spend less until they see the light...that they don't see yet! However,there are some positive aspects, that are mainly outside of the US, the good trends in Asia and some South American countries are raising the life level, which means more attraction for US type of products and services.
