EmailEconomic
Last Update: 07-May-13 15:16 ET
Consumer Credit
Highlights
- Consumer credit increased by $8.0 bln in March. That was down from an upwardly revised $18.6 bln (from $18.1 bln) in February. The Briefing.com consensus expected consumer credit to increase by $16.3 bln.
Key Factors
- That was the first time since September 2012 that consumer credit did not increase by at least $10.0 bln.
- Consumer credit is notoriously volatile and often goes through sizable revisions before the final numbers are released three months after the data are originally reported. It is highly unlikely that future revisions will result in credit contracting in March.
- Revolving credit decreased by $1.7 bln in March to $846.2 bln. Revolving credit increased $0.5 bln in February.
- After increasing by $18.2 bln in February, which was the largest one-month gain since 2001, nonrevolving credit growth slowed and increased by $9.7 bln in March. Nonrevolving credit has expanded for the past 19 consecutive months and 33 out of the last 34 months.
Big Picture
- Consumer credit is on a solid expansionary track.
| Category | MAR | FEB | JAN | DEC | NOV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Credit | $8.0B | $18.6B | $12.7B | $14.4B | $13.9B |
| Revolving | -$1.7B | $0.5B | $1.6B | -$2.1B | $0.0B |
| Nonrevolving | $9.7B | $18.2B | $11.0B | $16.5B | $13.9B |
