Auto Loans

Six payment cards, five marked Visa and one Mastercard, fanned out on a dark wooden table, with the front edges in sharp focus and the background dark and blurred.

Consumer Credit Growth Picked Up for a Third Straight Quarter, to a 4.2 Per Cent Rate: Over the Past Year, Borrowing Still Grew Less Than Prices

U.S. consumer credit grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.2 per cent in the third quarter, to $5.22 trillion, the Federal Reserve said on Friday. Revolving credit, mostly card balances, jumped at a 14.5 per cent rate in September after falling in August. Over 12 months the total rose about 3 per cent, less than the 3.7 per cent rise in consumer prices.

By Daniel Okafor 36 minutes ago

Aerial view of lots of cars lined up in a junk yard to be scrapped for parts in Calgary, Alberta Canada.

Money

The Auto Loan Becomes the Household's Weak Link

Car payments have climbed faster than incomes for most of a decade, and the loans stretched to absorb the difference. Delinquency is now rising in a category households historically protected above almost everything else.

By Daniel Okafor August 20, 2026

Tagged stories

Consumer Credit Growth Picked Up for a Third Straight Quarter, to a 4.2 Per Cent Rate: Over the Past Year, Borrowing Still Grew Less Than Prices

The Auto Loan Becomes the Household's Weak Link