With inflation putting pressure on people’s budgets and raising concerns about a prolonged recession, WalletHub today released its latest Credit Card Debt Study, Federal Reserve Rate Hike Report, and report on the Cities with the Most & Least-Sustainable Credit Card Debt to help illustrate how consumers are faring. You can find key highlights below.
Credit Card Debt Study Key Stats
- Record Q3 Increase. Credit card debt increased by almost $39.6 billion during Q3 2022, an all-time record for the third quarter of the year.
- Bigger-Than-Normal Buildup. Consumers’ Q3 2022 credit card debt increase was 2.4X bigger than the post-Great Recession average for a third quarter.
- Record Annual Projection. WalletHub projects that consumers will end the year with roughly $110 billion more in credit card debt than they started with, which would be close to an annual record.
- More Costly Debt. A Federal Reserve interest rate increase on December 14 would cost people with credit card debt at least an extra $3.2 billion in the next year alone. That’s on top of the $22.9 billion increase already caused by the Fed’s previous rate hikes this year.
