by Sarah Mcbride

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Finally, some good news— in very incremental amounts.

The New York Federal Reserve released its quarterly report on household debt and credit, and there are actually some encouraging tidbits.

While more credit card accounts were closed than opened in the last year, the number of credit account inquiries— a sign of future demand— inched upward for the first time since 2007. Auto loans rose 25%. Payments on a greater percentage of debt are current rather than behind.

 

Not to say it's all good news. Close to 500,000 people had a foreclosure added to their credit report, up almost 9% from the first quarter. New bankruptcies rose 34% to 621,000.

But still, there are enough glimmers of hope to imagine consumers cautiously spending again. Economists say that's key to jumpstart the economy, and will likely happen even before businesses ramp up their hiring.

Here's how it works: people who are scared of losing their jobs rein in their spending and put off purchases. But after a while, they get sick of jimmying the dishwasher or not having new clothes. They go out and spend a little money on stuff.

Now that total indebtedness at $11.7 trillion has been falling for several quarters, consumers might be ready to ease their stranglehods on their wallets somewhat— although it's a process that's likely to take months.

The Fed also broke down its reporting state by state. If you're unlucky enough to live in one with outsized problems, there are lots of graphs that hit home— like the one showing the percentage of balances that are 90 days late or more is rising in New York and Nevada even as it falls elsewhere.

You can see the whole report here. By economics standards, it's actually almost beach fare— plenty of colored charts, hardly any actual text to read.