There was much excitement last month when the Fed reported that in March consumer credit soared by the highest in years, rising by $28 billion, and smashing expectations, on the back of a near record $10.4 billion surge in revolving, aka credit card, credit. It appears that this may have been a "one-time" event, because according to the latest report, in April, consumer credit rose by less than half of its March total notional, increasing by only $13.4 billion, well below the $18 billion expected.
The biggest culprit was revolving credit, which following last month's surge, rose by just $1.6 billion, the second lowest monthly increase in two years.
When it comes to non-revolving credit, aka auto and student loans, there were no surprises here: the monthly increase of $11.8 billion was in line with recent trends.
Finally, both student and auto loans continued their increase in the quarter, and as of March 31, student loans hit $1.35 trillion, while auto loans were just over $1.05 trillion, both well above the total amount of credit card debt currently in circulation in the US.