May 8, 2020 - Economy
Consumer borrowing plummets as Americans pull back credit card use amid coronavirus lockdowns
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Americans pulled back on revolving credit — namely their credit card use — as states began to impose shelter-in-place orders, new data from the Federal Reserve shows.
Why it matters: It’s the latest indication of how the coronavirus is changing consumer behavior.
This data is closely watched. How much consumers borrow is an indication of how much they'll spend — a key driver of economic growth.
- "We expect further declines in revolving credit in the months ahead as consumer spending continues to decline," Nancy Vanden Houten, senior economist at Oxford Economics, wrote in a note.
Go deeper: The emerging coronavirus economy
