Credit Card Debt Rises To Record $1.08 Trillion

The explosive third quarter growth was partly fueled by a large increase in credit card balances, a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Household debt rose to $17.3 trillion in the third quarter of the year, an increase of $228 billion from the last quarter, the New York Fed said.

Credit card balances rose by $48 billion to $1.08 trillion. Student loan balances rose to $1.6 trillion. Mortgage debt rose to $12.4 trillion.

Auto loan balances rose to $1.6 trillion.

Loan delinquencies were up for most debt types except student loans.

“Credit card balances experienced a large jump in the third quarter, consistent with strong consumer spending and real GDP growth,” said Donghoon Lee, Economic Research Advisor at the New York Fed. “The continued rise in credit card delinquency rates is broad-based across area income and region, but particularly pronounced among millennials and those with auto loans or student loans.”

The New York Fed noted that missed federal student loan payments will not be reported to credit bureaus until the fourth quarter of next year. Because of this policy, less than 1 percent of aggregate student debt was reported seriously delinquent or in default in the third quarter and will remain low until the end of next year.