U.S. Credit-Card Debt Climbs to Record $1.29 Trillion

U.S. credit-card balances rose by $22 billion in the third quarter to about $1.29 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's latest Household Debt and Credit Report.

The increase was part of a broader $334 billion rise in household debt during the July-to-September period. Total debt reached $19.1 trillion, up 1.8% from the previous quarter.

Mortgage balances accounted for most of the increase, rising by $257 billion to about $13.4 trillion. Auto-loan balances increased by $21 billion to $1.73 trillion, while student-loan balances edged up by $5 billion to $1.66 trillion.

Repayment trends were mixed. The share of all outstanding household debt in some stage of delinquency rose to 5%. But the rate at which credit-card balances moved into early or serious delinquency improved slightly.

The annualized share of card balances newly becoming at least 90 days late was 6.87%, down from 7.05% a year earlier. That measure tracks new transitions into serious delinquency, not the share of every cardholder who is behind.

The report uses the New York Fed's nationally representative Consumer Credit Panel, based on anonymized Equifax credit data.