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U.S. revolving credit, 98% of which is credit card debt, rose slightly in September to $971.4 billion from $970.5 billion the previous month, according to a Federal Reserve G.19 report on consumer credit released Friday. Total seasonally adjusted consumer credit outstanding, which includes revolving and nonrevolving credit, increased at an annual rate of 3.2% in September to $2.59 trillion, the report says. Credit card charge-offs and delinquencies will continue to rise this year and through the first half of next year as issuers scramble to control further losses, exacerbated by rising unemployment rates, according to a report released earlier this month by Fitch Ratings Inc. (CardLine, 11/3). The U.S. unemployment rate reached 6.1% in September, up 140 basis points from the same period a year earlier, and Fitch notes that since credit card charge-offs generally rise along with unemployment, more charge-offs are likely if unemployment continues to rise, as many economists predict.
