Consumer Credit Growth Slowed to a 30-Month Low in May, The Fed Reports

According to the latest Federal Reserve G-19 Consume Credit report, with additional analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), consumer credit outstanding growth slowed to a 30-month low of 1.8% in May (SAAR). Revolving credit grew at 8.2%, but nonrevolving credit contracted 0.4%. Credit growth for March and April—each initially reported at 5.7%—were revised lower to 4.8% and 5.0%, respectively. Total consumer credit outstanding stands at $4.82 trillion (NSA), with $1.21 trillion in revolving debt and $3.62 trillion in non-revolving debt (NSA).

The total balance of consumer credit outstanding grew 6.3% over the 12-month period ending in May. This is down from 6.8% in April (NSA). Revolving debt grew 1.5% over the same period, more than three times the growth of nonrevolving debt at 4.1%. Year-over-year growth of both revolving and nonrevolving credit outstanding has slowed in six of the past seven months.

In May, nonrevolving debt accounted for 75.0% of the total consumer debt as the revolving consumer credit increased to 25%, the second-highest reading since early 2020. Over the past 12 months, revolving consumer credit outstanding as a share of the total increased 1.6 percentage points.

Finally, credit card interest rates have climbed from 20.92% in February to 22.16% in May. Year-over-year, the average credit card interest rate has soared 5.51 percentage points, or 33.1%.