U.S. consumers reduced their debt in May for the fourth consecutive month, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. Total seasonally adjusted consumer debt fell $3.22 billion ... Consumer credit fell in eight of the past ten months. ... This is the longest string of declines in credit since 1991. Credit-card debt had the biggest drop in May, falling $2.86 billion, or 3.7% to $928 billion.
Click on graph for larger image in new window.This graph shows the year-over-year (YoY) change in consumer credit. Consumer credit is off 1.8% over the last 12 months. The record YoY decline was 1.9% in 1991 - and that record will be broken over the next couple of months.
Note: Consumer credit does not include real estate debt.