CardTrak.com - News - Jan Debt
 

HomeNews2005March › Jan Debt

Jan Debt Mon, Mar 7, 2005 AddThis Social Bookmark Button

By Thomas Redman, CardTrak.com

Thanks to a fairly strong holiday shopping season, revolving consumer credit crossed the $800 billion milestone in January. Americans added $5.4 billion to revolving credit during the first month of the new year. However, the figure is lower than last January, when $7.8 billion was added to revolving credit. The change further verifies that more consumers are paying credit card balances off in-full each month or increasing their monthly payment. The monthly payment rate is hovering at 18%, an all-time high. According to the Federal Reserve, Americans owed $801.4 billion in revolving credit at the end of January, compared to $796.0 billion for December. One-year ago revolving credit stood at approximately $753.2 billion. Bank credit card debt (excluding store and gas credit cards) at the end of the fourth quarter was $696.7 billion, or roughly 87% of total revolving credit, according to CardData (www.carddata.com). At the end of January, Americans were $2018.5 billion in debt, excluding home mortgages.

REVOLVING CREDIT HISTORICAL ($billions)
Jan 05Dec 04Nov 04Sep 04Jun 04Mar 04Dec 03
GRWTH:8.1%8.50.95.510.4-1.95.4
$OWED:$801.4796.0790.4785.2765.2768.9758.7
Source: Federal Reserve; revised figures as of 3/07/05;
For complete historical data visit CardData (www.carddata.com)