Good News, Debt | featured news

After a long period of consumer retrenchment, U.S. families have cut their once-out-of-control debt loads down to pre-recession levels, largely removing one major obstacle to a faster economic recovery.

Consumers are saving more and reducing debt, behavior that could lead to a more sustainable economy. Signs of slower growth in the United States, coupled with rising fears over the European debt crisis and other unsettling developments, are fueling concern about whether the sputtering U.S. recovery could stall or even enter a new downturn.

Latest signs spur caution optimism. Stock market rising; Americans paying off debt.