BY MARK WHITEHOUSE
U.S. consumers are shedding debt at the fastest rate in more than six decades, largely through a wave of defaults, in a trend that underscores the depth of their financial troubles but could also help clear the way for a stronger economic recovery.
Total U.S. household debt, including mortgages and credit-card balances, fell 1.7% in 2009 to $13.5 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported Thursdaythe first annual drop since records began in 1945. The debt amounts to $43,874 per U.S. resident.
The drop reflects the extent to which job losses and a moribund housing market are forcing people to default on …
