U.S. States Stay in Austerity Age as Debt Barely Budges in 2015
- Net tax-supported debt grew 0.6 percent, remaining below peak
- Connecticut has highest per-capita burden; Nebraska has lowest
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The debt of U.S. states last year remained below its all-time high from 2013, showing officials were hesitant to borrow even with interest rates near record lows and the recession six years in the past.
States’ net tax-supported debt edged up 0.6 percent in 2015 to $512.5 billion, according to a Moody’s Investors Service report released Friday. In 2014, the figure fell for the first time in almost three decades, from the record high of $516 billion.