The numbers: According to the most recent government data released Friday, people were less likely to use credit cards in April, even though total consumer credit went up.
As of Friday, the Federal Reserve said that total consumer credit rose $6.4 billion in April. This was up from a revised $1.1 billion drop the previous month. That’s an increase of 1.5% per year, making up for a drop of 0.3% the previous month.
A poll by the Wall Street Journal found that economists had been expecting a rise of $10.2-billion.
Amounts of revolving credit, such as credit cards, went down by 0.4% yearly in April after going up by 1.5% the previous month. Since April 2021, this is the first drop like this.
Credit that doesn’t change hands, like student and car loans, went up a small 2.2% after going down 0.9% the previous month. Most of the time, this type of credit is much less unpredictable. Mortgage loans make up the biggest type of family debt, but the Fed’s data doesn’t show them.
In the big picture, experts say that the U.S. consumer is benefiting from the fact that the job market is still strong.
After a slow first quarter, the economy is getting better. The GDPNow gauge from the Atlanta Fed says that growth in the second quarter is running at a 2.6% yearly rate. This is up from a 1.3% rate in the January-March quarter.
What the market did: Stocks The DJIA SPX COMP fell on Friday, while the 10-year Treasury yield BX:TMUBMUSD10Y went up about 15 basis points to 4.43% after the good May jobs report.