NEW YORK—Household credit card debt had its largest quarterly increase in at least 22 years in the closing period of 2021, according to Federal Reserve data.
Despite the $52 billion increase in credit card debt, the largest since the Fed started tracking the data, the $860 billion balance is still $67 billion lower than at the beginning of the pandemic, and the share of credit card holders in delinquency has fallen, CNBC reported.
“The last quarter of the year is also when people typically splurge on holiday spending, so some of the increase is expected,” CNBC said.
Nevertheless, after an initial dip early in the pandemic, credit card debt has steadily increased back up toward the record high of $927 billion, set in 2019, reflecting a larger trend that isn’t fully explained by holiday shopping, the news outlet noted.
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