Real Wages Have Been Negative Since March as Households Lean on HELOCs and Longer Car Loans

The American consumer is running on borrowed money because paychecks have stopped keeping up, according to the author.
Real average hourly earnings have been negative since March, meaning prices are climbing faster than wages and the typical worker is losing ground every month. Households are reaching for debt to fill the gap:
- Home equity lines of credit have climbed back to about $440 billion as people cash out the home-price surge.
- A record 30% of car loans now stretch past six years, up from 13% a decade ago.
The author called this late-cycle behavior, saying the consumer looks fine on the surface but the fuel is leverage, not income. When paychecks shrink while borrowing climbs, the next leg could be slower spending or more defaults, and real wages are the crack to watch.