Americans’ credit card debt grew by $24 billion to $1.17 trillion in the third quarter, 8.1% higher than a year ago, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
While credit card debt has remained stable in the past two decades, it has increased since the COVID pandemic, as households spent down their savings on purchases, CNBC reports.
Cumulative inflation of 22% in the past four years put a strain on U.S. household budgets, especially lower-income households. According to a survey by Achieve of 2,000 people in October, 28% saw their debt increase over the past three months.
Among those with rising debt, 37% said the increase was due to the ongoing difficulty of making ends meet, while 20% attributed it to overspending, and 19% to a lost job or reduced wages.
While the job market has remained strong and wages have been rising, notes Brad Stroh, co-CEO of the debt management company, “those macroeconomic conditions aren’t felt equally across the population — especially for consumers who live in areas where the impact of inflation is the greatest.”
The average credit card balance per consumer is $6,329, 4.8% higher year over year, according to a TransUnion report.
The average interest rate that credit cards charge is 20%, near an all-time high, and has not decreased even as the Federal Reserve has started to cut the Fed funds rate, by a total of 0.75%. The Fed funds rate was 5.25%-5.5% before the Fed’s first cut in September. It now stands at 4.5%-4.75%.
The good news is the growth in Americans’ credit card balances has trending downward. In 2023, it grew 11.2% year over year, and 12.4% in 2022, according to TransUnion.
In addition, 8.8% of credit card balances became delinquent in the past year, according to the New York Fed report. That’s down from 9.1% last year.
This could “suggest that rising debt burdens remain manageable,” New York Fed researchers said on a press call Wednesday. “Overall, balance sheets look pretty good for households.”