In figures: Consumer credit card balances increased by $22 billion in the third quarter, an increase of 1.7%. That’s $52 billion more than a year earlier.
- The figures are not adjusted for inflation, meaning that part of the increase reflects higher prices rather than greater borrowing in real terms.
- Total household debt, including mortgages and student and auto loans, increased by $334 billion, reaching a record $19.1 trillion in the third quarter. The total is up $5 trillion since 2019, just before the pandemic.
Yes, but: Fewer credit card balances are becoming seriously delinquent, a sign of some improvement in Americans’ ability to keep up with their payments.
- The rate of large credit card delinquencies fell slightly to 6.9% in the third quarter, although it remains significantly higher than the 5.2% recorded before the pandemic.
Between the lines: A separate New York Fed report released Tuesday showed that Americans in lower-income neighborhoods have a harder time keeping up with their credit card payments than their wealthier counterparts.
- Crime rates remain above pre-pandemic levels across all neighborhood income groups, with the gap between the richest and poorest areas widening since 2022.
- In the lowest-income neighborhoods, 10.3% of credit card balances became seriously delinquent in the past year, more than double the 4.4% rate in the wealthiest neighborhoods.
The big picture: The average credit card balance per borrower now stands at $6,678, according to TransUnion’s third-quarter analytics report.
- Borrowers under 30 had the highest rate of credit card debt, with late payments of at least 90 days, according to the Fed report.
What we’re looking at: Democrats won the midterm elections by promising to lower prices — but it will be difficult to deliver relief that voters can actually feel in their household budgets.
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