Consumer Credit Continues To Decline

Consumers are going into debt with credit cards less and less, continuing a trend that began with the financial collapse at the outset of the Great Recession. Less credit is available and, at the same time, consumers don't have enough confidence in their future income to take on more credit card debt. In Thanksgiving holiday shopping this year, use of debt to purchase goods declined by nearly half from last year. Consumers are running scared. This is a social fact that impedes economic growth.