Collectively, Americans now owe a record $1.17 trillion on their credit cards, according to a new report on household debt from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It will continue to grow until after January 20.

     Credit card balances rose by $24 billion in the third quarter of 2024 and are 8.1% higher than a year ago.  Despite that increase, credit card delinquency rates improved — with 8.8% of balances transitioning to delinquency over the last year, compared with 9.1% in the previous quarter, the New York Fed found. That change could “suggest that rising debt burdens remain manageable,” the New York Fed researchers said on a press call Wednesday.  “Overall, balance sheets look pretty good for households,” the researchers added.

     Credit card debt has remained stable over the last two decades; however, in the years since the pandemic, households largely spent down their excess savings, which sparked a rebound in credit card balances. Consumer spending continues to remain strong, despite high borrowing costs.  But now, growth in credit card balances has slowed, a separate quarterly credit industry insights report from TransUnion also found.

     The average balance per consumer stands at $6,329, rising only 4.8% year over year — compared with an 11.2% increase the year before and 12.4% the year before that, TransUnion found.  In the last three months, 42% of Americans said their total debt hasn’t changed, while 28% of have seen their debt rise, according to another survey by Achieve, which helps consumers manage debt.

     Of the latter group, most said the increase was due to the ongoing difficulty of making ends meet. Others cited general overspending and a lost job or reduced wages. Achieve polled 2,000 adults with one or more kinds of consumer debt in October. “Across the board, unemployment is low and wages have risen, but those macroeconomic conditions aren’t felt equally across the population, especially for consumers who live in areas where the impact of inflation is the greatest,” Brad Stroh, Achieve’s co-founder and co-CEO, said in a statement.