Are people running out of money?

I work retail sales and have noticed more declined credit cards the last month or so. Not for large purchases, but in the $100-$300 range.

The wife was in the bank for a few hours last Friday and heard some really disturbing stuff. 1 guy was signing a loan for close to $20,000 with an interest rate of 47.99 percent!!! Even the loan officer my wife was talking with stopped and sat there in shock that he would do such a thing.