Recently, a Bloomberg article reported on some interesting statistics which related to consumers and debt. The statistics were from the Federal Reserve and they regarded U.S. consumer credit in July of this year. The statistics indicate that, in July, the U.S. saw some interesting trends when it comes to consumer credit.
First, the statistics indicate that the U.S. saw a fairly big rise in consumer borrowing in July. Reportedly, that month, consumer credit went up by around $12 billion. According to the above-mentioned Bloomberg article, this is the biggest monthly increase in consumer credit that the nation has seen in over three years.
However, while the U.S. saw an overall rise in consumer credit in July, revolving credit (the credit category that includes credit card debt) actually went down. Reportedly, in July, revolving credit decreased by $3.4 billion.
Meanwhile, non-revolving credit (a credit category which includes things like auto loans and student loans) went up by quite a bit in July. Reportedly, in July, the U.S. saw a $15.4 billion increase in non-revolving credit.
Consequently, the statistics from July appear to indicate that the overall growth in consumer credit that month was driven by long-term debt rather than credit card debt.
Thus, it appears that some interesting trends occurred in July when it comes to consumer credit in the United States. These trends give rise to some questions. What caused these trends? Did the causes of these trends have any other impacts on consumers? Will these trends continue? It will be interesting to see how these questions are ultimately answered.
Source: Bloomberg, “U.S. Consumer Borrowing Rose by $12 Billion in July, Twice Amount Forecast,” Vincent Del Giudice, Sept. 8, 2011
