Oct Debt Fri, Dec 9, 2005
By Thomas Redman, CardTrak.com
Revolving consumer credit dipped below the $800 billion mark in October, falling 2.4% on an annual basis. Overall, consumer credit fell unexpectedly by a seasonally adjusted $7.2 billion after rising in September, driven by low demand for auto loans. During October, consumers cut-off $1.6 billion in revolving debt, mostly credit card debt. According to data released by the Federal Reserve, total revolving credit fell in October to $798.9 billion. The annual rate of growth for October was -2.4%, compared to +8.0% for September and +7.0% in August. Bank credit card debt (excluding store and gas credit cards) at the mid-year was $664.5 billion or roughly 83% of total revolving credit, according to CardData (www.carddata.com). Managed card loans among the top five U.S. issuers grew 1.9% during the third quarter, compared to one-year ago. At the end of October, Americans were $2156.9 billion in debt, excluding home mortgages.
| REVOLVING CREDIT HISTORICAL ($billions) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 05 | Sep 05 | Aug 05 | Jul 05 | Jun 05 | May 05 | |
| GRWTH: | -2.4% | 8.0 | 7.0 | -0.8 | 4.6 | 2.1 |
| $OWED: | $798.9 | 800.5 | 795.2 | 795.6 | 796.2 | 789.3 |
| Source: Federal Reserve; revised figures as of 12/7/05; | ||||||
| For complete historical data, visit CardData (www.carddata.com) | ||||||
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