• Lower mortgage debt among Americans contributed to a 0.5% reduction in household debt during the second quarters of the year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York says.
• Almost all of the reduction from the first quarter's $11.38 trillion is owing to lower mortgage debt.
• The bank said number of debtors entering home foreclosure was 256,000 in the three months, down 12% from Q1 and the lowest since the middle of 2007.

From the article:

Americans continued to whittle down their debt during the second quarter, a process that has weighed on the recovery but could free it to gain momentum in the future. ...