WASHINGTON-Loan dollars outstanding and savings showed meagergrowth for the month of January and really, savings have been flatsince August, CUNA Chief Economist Bill Hampel said. In January,loans grew 0.3%, while savings climbed 0.7%, CUNA's Monthly CreditUnion Estimates found. “January is typically a really weak monthfor both loans and savings and this year was no exception,” Hampelsaid. Savings balances in January 2003 had grown 1.7%, so savingsgrowth is declining. He added that Jan. 30 was a Friday, typicallypayday, so that is where most of that growth came from; there wasbig share draft growth in January (4.1%) but other savingsvehicles' growth was minimal. “If you look back over some of theother numbers, what we find is, credit union savings now at the endof January stand where they were last August,” Hampel said. This isalso true of household savings in the broader market. “There was alittle bit of surprise here that this household savings market isnot growing,” he said. “Probably what's happening is consumers arespending again, which they haven't been doing for a while and alsothe stock market, after three years of really lousy returns hasstarted to look better and that's where some of the money's going.”Because savings grew faster than loans, the loan-to-share ratiofell from 72.2% last December to 71.9% in the first month of theyear. Additionally, after the holidays, credit card balances didnot fall as quickly this year (1.9%) in January as opposed they didlast year (2.7%). Home equities led loan growth at 2.2%, with newand used vehicle loans trailing at 0.4% and 0.1% growth,respectively. Credit unions' average capital-to-asset ratio fellfrom 10.8% at year-end to 10.6% for January, CUNA's data showed.Delinquencies were up slightly from 0.7% in December to 0.77% inJanuary. [email protected]