Americans Using Credit Cards Much Less

Joseph Byrne Sunday, April 7, 2013

Americans were found to have borrowed more in February to buy cars and pay for school. However, they were much more careful with their credit card usage in general, as this total amount decrease in February over January.

The Federal Reserve says that in February, consumer borrowing rose over $18 billion dollars. When compared to January’s borrowing, this was a gain of $12.7 billion. This could be largely due to the fact that it was the month following Christmas, but it is a good economic sign regardless.

This increase brought the total borrowing amount to a seasonally adjusted $2.8 trillion. That is up from $2.78 trillion in January and set a new record in borrowing as well.

Almost the entire gains can be concentrated in the student and auto loans categories. These grew by $17.6 billion. The reasons for this are not entirely known, but the new school semester, as well as the start of income tax season can be attributed  

Credit card debt was something that consumers were very cautious about. This category grew just $533 million after a $1.7 billion in January. Credit card usage has been down since the recession, which is a good thing for consumers and their future financial status. 

joeb@longislandyellowpages.com

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