Revolving credit, like credit cards, rose 6% in December, less than half the 13% pace seen in November. Revolving credit is $1.03 trillion, the highest on record. Nonrevolving credit, typically auto and student loans, rose 5.7% in December after an 8.6% rise in the prior month.
In the fourth quarter, consumer credit rose at a 7.7% annual rate, the strongest quarter of the year. For all of 2017, consumer credit rose at a 5.4% rate, down from a 6.7% rate in the prior year. Most of the slowdown was in nonrevolving credit. The data does not include mortgage debt.