Consumer Revolving Credit Shows Substantial Life

Revolving credit showed substantial life in November, up $5.7 billion and helping to boost total consumer credit by $14.0 billion. Nonrevolving credit, boosted by auto financing and student loans, has been the foundation of strength for this series during the whole recovery, but less so in November when it added only $8.3 billion for the smallest contribution since February 2012. But it's the gain for revolving credit, growing at an annualized 7.4 percent in the month, and the implication for credit-card use that are important for what to expect in holiday spending. The results here are positive.

Recent History Of This Indicator:
Consumer credit is expected to rise $18.8 billion in November, a gain that would be up from October's unusually low $16.0 billion but still below the roughly $20 billion trend for this series. Revolving credit, the component in this report that tracks credit-card debt, had been showing life but did slow in October. Gains in this component would hint at strength for consumer confidence.