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Total consumer credit rose 6.9 percent at a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate in October and is up 8.1 percent compared to a year ago. Revolving credit – primarily credit cards – rose 10.4 percent and is up 15 percent compared to October 2021. Non-revolving credit – primarily auto loans and education loans – rose 5.8 percent during the month and is up 6 percent from a year ago.

“Consumer credit balances grew by $27.1 billion in October, slightly higher than forecasted,” said NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long in the latest Macro Data Flash report. “Overall, balances are still slightly below the pre-COVID trend following the sharp deleveraging in 2020 followed by the rapid buildup more recently.

"In the Federal Reserve’s latest Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, ‘moderate net shares of banks reported tightening lending standards for credit card loans and other consumer loans.’ Meanwhile, non-revolving debt has been growing at a more modest pace," added Long.

Total consumer credit for credit unions rose 0.5 percent, on a seasonally adjusted basis, in October, compared to a 0.7 percent gain for banks and 0.6 percent increase for financial companies. From a year prior, total consumer credit at credit unions rose 17.7 percent, while banks experienced a 12.2 percent gain and financial companies fell 0.3 percent.

Over the past 12 months, credit unions’ share of the market rose 1.1 percentage points to 13.1 percent. Banks’ share rose 1.6 percentage points to 41.9 percent, and financial companies' share fell 1 percentage points to 12.2 percent.

“NAFCU expects consumer credit to continue expanding in the fourth quarter as households tap available credit during the holiday shopping season,” concluded Long.

For more up-to-date economic insights from NAFCU's award-winning research team, view NAFCU's Macro Data Flash reports.