US Household Credit Card Balances (NY Fed)

## What this measures

Credit card balances owed by US households at the end of each quarter, in trillions of dollars.

## Why it matters

Card debt is the most expensive borrowing most households carry, and the first place strain shows when incomes fall behind prices. It is the balance most often cited when people ask whether consumers are stretched.

## How to read it

Balances rise every fourth quarter with holiday spending and ease in the first, so compare a quarter with the same quarter a year earlier. Read it beside card delinquency and the flow into serious delinquency.

## What it does not say

A rising balance can mean more spending on cards that are paid off monthly, not more revolving debt. It does not show interest rates, credit limits or who is carrying the balance.

## Source

Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit (NY Fed Consumer Credit Panel / Equifax), data workbook Page 3. Palanor downloads the workbook each quarter; every release carries the full history from 2003.