· Consumer
credit outstanding rose $15.3B during March after an upwardly revised
$6.6B February increase. The gain was more than twice the rise that was
generally expected.
· On a percentage basis, the change in consumer credit over the last three months averaged 5.5% (AR), about the same as during all of 2007.
· Revolving credit
outstanding rose $6.3B, nearly twice the February increase. The three
month growth rate, however, fell slightly to 6.9% from 7.5% last year.
· Non-revolving credit, which accounts for nearly two thirds of total consumer credit, increased more sharply last month by $9.0B after an upwardly revised $2.6B February gain. The three month annualized average growth rate, however, was stable with last year's 4.7% increase though that was up from a 1.2% low at the end of last year.
· These figures are the major input to the Fed's Flow of Funds accounts for the household sector, released quarterly.
· The Recession Dating Procedure from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) can be found here.