ARLINGTON, Va.—Total consumer credit rose 6.2%, at a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate, in July and was up 7.7% compared to a year ago, according to new federal data.
Revolving credit - primarily credit cards - rose 11.6% during July and was up 14.3% compared to July 2021. Non-revolving credit – primarily auto loans and education loans – rose 4.4% during July and was up 5.7% from a year ago.
“The 6.2% annualized pace during the month is still brisk by historical standards, but it is noticeably lower than the 8.7% average over the past six months,” said NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long. “Revolving debt growth still reached double digits in July, marking the fifth time in six months it has done so.
"Credit card balances and other short-term loans are still growing swiftly as households struggle to make ends meet," added Long. "Supply considerations may be playing a factor in the mild deceleration.”
Additional Data Points
According to the new government data, total consumer credit for credit unions rose 1.5%, on a seasonally adjusted basis, in July, compared to a 0.5% gain for banks and 0.4% increase for financial companies. From a year prior, total consumer credit at credit unions rose 13.3%, while banks experienced a 12.4% gain and financial companies rose 1.3%.
Over the past 12 months, credit unions’ share of the market rose 0.8 percentage points to 12.8%. Banks’ share rose by 1.8 percentage points to 41.8%, and financial companies' share fell by 1.0 percentage points to 12.4%, NAFCU reported.
A ’Contrast’
“The Federal Reserve's most recent Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey found that consumer loan standards were unchanged over the prior three months, but that stands in contrast to prior periods which saw substantial easing,” noted Long. “As consumers and lenders deal with a flagging economy, NAFCU expects that consumer credit growth will slow further."
The Very Best in CU Reporting. For You. For Free. Or Your Money Back.
Don’t forget to check your Spam/Junk email folder if you haven’t been receiving your free, popular and daily CUToday.info news headlines.
And if you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time.
CUToday.info has received very positive response from readers following the move to an improved provider of the daily headlines, but many also noted they did need to go to their Spam/Junk folder and mark it as safe.
The new email solution has not only improved every reader’s delivery experience, but it also features a fresh, new format that is easy to read, especially on mobile devices.
Please note and/or make your IT department or email administrator aware the emails will be coming from the domains CUTodayinfo.com and CUTodayinfoReply.com.