...The U.S. economy continues to exhibit weakness, with consumer confidence at historically low levels in the face of deteriorating labor market fundamen tals. Although core inflation remains relatively subdued, headline inflation has continued to rise, led by high energy, food, and transportation costs, as evidenced by the #.#% increase in the June #### consumer price index data for urban consumers. Bankruptcies are still exhibiting a gr adual increase from historic lows, while credit card delinquencies have been increasing at a faster pace, as revolving credit usage continues to grow. Despite such weak conditions, retail sales are up, boosted in part by the temporary benefits of tax rebate checks. Fitch Ratings expects this continued economic de terioration to result in declining collateral performance across consumer ABS. For transactio ns financing credit card receivables, subordinate ratings remain most under pressure, as evidenced by Fitch s Rating Watch Negative on Washington...
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