Yesterday, the Federal Reserve released its monthly report on consumer credit (G.19).
The report showed that in January consumers continued paying down expensive revolving credit at an annualized rate of 2.3%, much smaller than December’s 12.9% but still impressive considering the pressure that home cash flow is under.
Surprisingly, use of other credit — primarily auto loans — rose at an annualized rate of 5% in January. Why did consumers decide to run out and buy cars in the middle of winter?
Both January figures are preliminary and will be revised when more information is available for the next month’s report.
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Tags: Credit, Federal Reserve System, Money Management, personal finance
