Consumers are still reluctant to take on credit but credit unions saw a slight increase in outstanding consumer credit, according to data released by the Federal Reserve.
Credit unions had $228.1 billion in outstanding consumer credit in August, up from July's revised figure of $227.5 billion. Overall, outstanding consumer credit fell by $3.3 billion, an annualized rate of 1.7%, to $2,414 trillion in August, compared with $2,417 trillion in July.
The Fed's data also showed that credit unions' share of consumer installment credit declined to 9.41%, a 5 basis point decline.
The decline in consumer credit, coupled with today's announcement by the Labor Department that the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.6% in September, are further indications that the economy still faces serious challenges.
At credit unions, outstanding revolving credit increased to $35.5 billion in August, from July's revised figure of $35.3 billion. Revolving credit mostly refers to credit-card related payments.
In August, there was $192.6 billion in outstanding non-revolving credit at credit unions, up from July's revised figure of $192.6 billion. Non-revolving credit includes loans for items such as cars, boats and vacations.
