Oct. 10, 2012 – Demand for consumer credit rebounded strongly in August, and credit unions managed to boost their share of both non-revolving and revolving lending, according to Federal Reserve data.
Consumer credit, a measurement that does not include real estate loans, expanded by $18.1 billion for the entire marketplace in August on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. That followed a monthly drop of 1.1 percent in July and a 6 percent increase in June, according to seasonally adjusted, annualized data.
Non-revolving credit, which includes mostly auto and student loans, increased at an annual rate of 9 percent in August, while revolving credit increased by 5.9 percent. NAFCU Chief Economist David Carrier noted that non-revolving credit “took a breather” in July, but “otherwise has been posting big gains all year.” The uptick in revolving credit balances, Carrier said, likely reflects “the sharp rise in gas prices that occurred during the month.”
At credit unions, consumer lending increased by 1 percent in August, following a 1.6 percent increase in July. Non-revolving credit union consumer lending grew by 0.9 percent in August, while revolving credit grew 1.9 percent.
While the former resulted in credit unions’ share of non-revolving credit falling from 10.71 percent to 10.62 percent, the latter helped push up credit unions’ share of revolving credit from 4.59 percent to 4.62 percent in August.
The non-seasonally adjusted figures showed that credit unions reported stronger consumer credit lending than banks. While credit unions reported a 1 percent increase in total consumer credit, banks reported a 0.9 percent increase.
For more, view NAFCU’s Macro Data Flash.