earlier report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis<\/a>, released at the end of April, found that personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased by $160.9 billion in March, a rise of 0.8%. On a percentage basis, that matched the rise in PCE from February.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA Spike in Income<\/h2>\n\n\n\n That same report showed a significant increase in income. Personal income rose by $122.0 billion in March, representing a 0.5% monthly rate of increase. Disposable personal income, which is personal income minus personal current taxes, increased $104.0 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In February, disposable personal income had risen by just $49.7 billion. This means Americans had an additional, unexpected $50 billion in income to play with in March. Real personal income minus transfer receipts\u2014which include such things as retirement and unemployment benefits\u2014is currently at an all-time high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Was that a factor in the nation incurring so much less credit card debt? We\u2019ll gain further insights in early June when the Fed releases its next report on consumer credit. The report will hopefully provide a clearer picture of the sustainability of this trend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Consumer credit card spending came to a halt in March, surprising experts who had expected a steady increase. The total outstanding revolving credit rose by a mere 0.1%, a stark contrast to the consistent 5% monthly rises observed since the pandemic began. The Federal Reserve reported that revolving credit rose by $152 million in March, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8441,"featured_media":424755,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"17151","hide":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,1259,17151],"tags":[64822,125,57086,377],"class_list":["post-447764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysts-coverage","category-credit","category-debt","tag-bureau-of-economic-analysis","tag-credit","tag-credit-card-debt","tag-federal-reserve"],"yoast_head":"\n
Why Credit Card Debt Slowed Sharply in March - PaymentsJournal<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n