Credit card balances shrank in May after two months of double-digit growth

There is no bylined story on this one worth linking, so the figures below come straight from the Federal Reserve release of July 8, 2026. Total consumer credit was unchanged in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, at $5,154.5bn, after growing at annual rates of 5.3 percent in March and 4.9 percent in April. Revolving credit, which is mostly credit cards, fell at a 4.7 percent annual rate, a flow of minus $63.6bn, after rising at 9.7 percent in March and 10.4 percent in April. Nonrevolving credit, which covers car and student loans, grew at a 1.6 percent annual rate, a flow of $61.4bn. The Fed does not say why. The release reports the flows and nothing more.