Data mixed regarding how people handle debt

March 24, 2004

WASHINGTON -- The percentage of credit card payments that were past due shot up to a record in the final quarter of last year, but delinquency rates for some other types of consumer loans dropped, painting a mixed picture of how Americans are handling their debt.

The seasonally adjusted percentage of credit card accounts 30 or more days past due rose to 4.43 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003, the American Bankers Association reported in a quarterly survey released Tuesday. That surpassed the previous quarterly high of 4.09 percent set in the third quarter of last year.

James Chessen, the association's chief economist, said that credit cards often are used as a "financial bridge" by those who lose their jobs.

The association's survey showed that the delinquency rate on a composite of other types of consumer loans, including auto loans and home-equity loans, fell to a seasonally adjusted 1.89 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003. That marked the lowest rate since the beginning of 1995 and was down from 2.14 percent in the third quarter.

-- Wire services