As we have mentioned before on this blog, many consumers in Florida and the rest of the country have faced debt struggles in recent years. Such struggles can have major impacts on a consumer’s life. Thus, it is worth keeping an eye on trends in consumer debt.
Recently, the Federal Reserve released a report which revealed some interesting numbers regarding consumer debt in the United States. The report appears to indicate that consumer credit in the United States is going up.
According to the report, in May, U.S. consumer credit went up by $5.08 billion. This reportedly is the eighth straight month in which consumer credit in the United States has gone up.
The report also broke consumer credit down by categories. Reportedly, the category of credit which includes credit card debt went up by $3.36 billion in May. Thus, it appears that increases in credit card debt may have been a driving force in the increase in U.S. consumer credit in May.
Thus, the Federal Reserve report indicates that credit card debt and consumer credit in general have gone up. These increases bring up some interesting and important questions. What is the cause of these increases? Will these increases in credit card debt and consumer credit continue? If the answer to the previous question is yes, how long will these increases continue? What short term and long term effects will these increases have on consumers and the economy? It will be interesting to see what the answers to these questions ultimately are.
Source: Reuters, “UPDATE 1-U.S. consumer credit rose $5.08 billion in May,” 8 Jul 2011
