ARLINGTON, Va.—Total consumer credit rose 3.6% in July on a seasonally-adjusted, annualized basis, continuing its overall recovery and is up 0.7% versus a year ago.
NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long called the gain was "modest," but noted it was stronger than the prior month.
"Student lending tends to be less sensitive to business cycle fluctuations, but growth in student loan balances is slowing down, possibly as a result of young adults rethinking or delaying postsecondary education plans," said Long. "NAFCU expects consumer credit growth to be slow through the rest of 2020, particularly in the revolving segment."
Long noted that revolving credit continued to decline; however, the trend is beginning to flatten. Meanwhile, nonrevolving credit continued to grow.
Additional Data
Total consumer credit for credit unions rose 0.5% in July from the previous month, compared to a 0.2% increase for banks and a 0.9% increase for financial companies. From a year prior, total consumer credit at credit unions rose 1.2%, while banks saw a 3.1% drop and financial companies saw a 0.5 increase.
Credit unions' share of the market remains unchanged from a year ago at 11.7%. Meanwhile, banks' market share fell 1.5% to 40.3% and financial companies' is also unchanged at 13.2%, Long said.