U.S. Consumer Credit Slumps More Than Expected In May

(RTTNews) - After reporting a sharp drop in U.S. consumer credit in the previous month, the Federal Reserve released a report on Wednesday showing consumer credit continued to decline in the month of May.

The Fed consumer credit slumped by $18.2 billion in May after plunging by a revised $70.2 billion in April. Economists had expected credit to decrease by $15.5 billion compared to the $68.7 billion nosedive originally reported for the previous month.

The continued decrease in consumer credit came as another sharp drop in revolving credit more than offset a rebound in non-revolving credit.

Revolving credit, which largely reflects credit card debt, tumbled by $24.3 billion in May after plummeting by $58.2 billion in April.

Meanwhile, non-revolving credit, such as student loans and car loans, rose by $6.0 billion in May after slumping by $12.0 billion in the previous month.

Compared to the same month a year ago, consumer credit in May was down by 5.3 percent as a 28.6 percent nosedive in revolving credit more than offset a 2.3 percent jump in non-revolving credit.