Monday, June 9, 2014

Put It on Plastic

Have you been using your credit card very much lately? If you're like most Americans, you have been shopping on credit a lot more lately - a lot more than you have been in a long time. In a world where we're used to measuring sticks that go back to the onset of the recession, we used our credit cards more in April than we had in 13 years.

According to a report from the Federal Reserve released on Friday, the amount of outstanding revolving credit — a figure that’s mostly credit-card debt — rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 12.3% to $870.44 billion in April. That was the fastest rate that credit had increased since November 2001, when annual growth was 12.33%.

Overall consumer credit, which includes student and car loans but not mortgages, increased by $20.85 billion, or at a 10.23% annual rate. All these measures show a renewed consumer confidence - and an increased willingness on the part of banks to extend credit.


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