Credit Card Balances Still Declining But U.S. Consumer Spending Trends Point to a Gradual Recovery

DBRS, Inc. (DBRS Morningstar) published a commentary analyzing recent trends in U.S. credit card balances and consumer spending. Since the onset of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic, credit card balances have contracted substantially at a rate not seen since the aftermath of the 2008 Financial Crisis. The recovery of credit card balances in the intermediate-term is likely to be uneven until the economy fully reopens and the labor market starts approaching more normal levels.