WASHINGTON—Consumers cut back on their card spending in April after marking a 15-year spending high in March, according to new Federal Reserve data.
Total consumer credit rose by $13.4 billion in April.
The Fed reported that revolving credit increased by only $1.7 billion after showing a robust $11-billion jump in March. Non-revolving credit, primarily student and auto loans, increased by $11.7 billion.
The news may be a good sign for default rates. The fed data follows a report from CardHub that reveals U.S. households paid down only $26.8 billion in credit card debt during the first quarter of 2016.
CardHub, in its Q1 2016 Credit Card Debt Study, points out the paydown is not nearly as great as needed to slow the rapid rise of consumer debt that has been piling up in the last year.
“Not only does this paydown come on the heels of a year in which we added an astounding $71 billion to our tab, but it’s also the smallest first-quarter debt reduction since 2008,” said CardHub CEO Odysseas Papadimitriou.