U.S. consumers increased their credit card debt by 18% during the second half of 2009 compared with the average card-debt level at the end of June, according to a Jan. 13 report from Credit Karma Inc., a San Francisco-based company whose Web site tracks credit scores.
Consumer card debt in five states rose by more than 30% between July and December, the firm says. The biggest increase occurred in Indiana, where the average consumer card debt rose 39% during the second half of the year compared with debt levels at the end of June. It was followed by Tennessee (34%), Oklahoma (32%) and Michigan and Pennsylvania (30%). In the Philadelphia metropolitan area, consumers racked up more than 40% more card debt during the second half of the year.
The average U.S. consumer credit score was 671 at the end of December, down six points from 665 at the beginning of the year, based on data from some 87,000 Credit Karma users. Average credit scores have remained stable since October, the firm notes.
Consumers ended 2009 with average credit card debt of $8,079, up 2.5% from $7,879 at the end of November. It was the third consecutive month in which card-debt levels rose.
“After several months of paying down credit card balances, many consumers were forced to turn to credit cards towards the end of the year,” Ken Lin, Credit Karma CEO said in a statement, noting that 2009 was “a rough year” for many consumers due to rising unemployment rates.
