Consumer Credit and Card Debt Growth Slow in December

That screeching sound your hearing is the slow-down in consumer debt over December, and not that loud crappy music the young people are listening to these days.  Or, it might be both.

According to the Federal Reserve, consumer credit debt increased by $6 billion, or 3% annualized, in December, which works out to  less than half the growth of November.

MarketWatch provides us with the rest of the numbers:

• Total outstanding debt increased by a seasonally adjusted $6.01 billion in December to $2.4 trillion after a $13.7 billion, or 6.9%, gain in November.
• Growth of revolving debt, such as credit cards, increased $609 million, or 0.8%, to $876.2 billion, after soaring by $9.9 billion, or 13.8%, in November. It’s the slowest growth in credit-card debt since March.
• Meanwhile nonrevolving debt, such as auto loans, increased by $5.4 billion, or 4.3%, to $1.52 trillion. It was the fastest growth in nonrevolving debt since August.