Revolving credit, which includes credit card debt, increased at a rate of 8.3 percent in October following a gain of 6 percent in September and an even stronger pace of 10.6 percent in August.
Credit card debt has been surging in recent months as consumers have started borrowing more heavily on their credit cards now that home refinancings have slowed. That slowdown has reflected tighter bank lending conditions as a serious slump in housing has sent home prices falling and increased the level of mortgage defaults.
“Consumers’ ability and willingness to extract equity from their homes is waning and thus they will have to increasingly turn to other forms of credit, namely credit cards,” said Ryan Sweet, an economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “Elevated gasoline prices will also provide additional support to revolving credit as consumers typically use credit cards at the pump.”
Why don’t we all try living within our means?
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmAm8GNJ_IA]What a novel idea[/url]