(TNND) — Americans’ credit card balances hit a record $1.29 trillion last quarter, according to a New York Fed report released this week. And rising demand for credit counseling points to strain among people carrying debt.
But an analyst says help is available.
The total of Americans’ credit card balances is up about 4% from the same period a year ago and tops the previous record of $1.28 trillion set in the fourth quarter of last year.
Ted Rossman, the principal consumer finance analyst at nonprofit credit counseling agency Money Management International, said the credit card figure, part of the New York Fed’s quarterly report on Americans’ household debt, can be seen as both good and bad.
“I know the record is shocking, the fact…