Consumed credit growth rate dipped in December as savings rate fell to lowest level since 2005

Consumer borrowing increased $18.4 billion in December to a record seasonally adjusted $3.84 trillion, for an annual growth rate of 5.8%. This was down from a revised $31 billion rate in the prior month. For all of 2017, consumer credit rose at a 5.4% rate, down from a 6.7% rate in the prior year. Most of this slowdown was for nonrevolving credit.  Still, the U.S. savings rate fell to 2.4% in December, the lowest level since 2005, indicating that households are racking up more debt due to high consumer confidence, out of necessity, or some combination of the two.

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