WASHINGTON — After a glimmer of hope in September, credit union savings growth at this point is not getting any better, according to CUNA's latest data.

"The surge in savings growth we saw in September was not repeated in October," CUNA Chief Economist Bill Hampel said. "Savings slinked back again into negative territory in October, so we are once again on track to have 2006 be the weakest year for savings inflows into credit unions since World War II."

CUNA's Monthly Credit Union Estimates showed credit union savings dropping 0.3% in October dragging year-to-date savings growth down to 2.9% from 3.3% for the same period last year. CDs were up 2.2% followed by individual retirement accounts at 1.0% and money markets up 0.5%. However, share drafts fell 4.2% and regular shares were down 1.7% for the month.