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Jerseyan’s credit card debt drops 13.5 percent
Borrowing to buy has been trending downward as many people, dogged by rising poverty, high unemployment and falling incomes — and spurred by the fear that comes with it all — put their financial houses in order.
A report released Wednesday by CreditKarma.com, a free credit management website, shows that credit card debt nationally fell by a whopping 18 percent from August 2010 to last month.
“The relative uncertainty of the current job market has forced consumers to live within their means and focus on being financially responsible,” said Kenneth Lin, CEO of CreditKarma.com.
Lin said the figures are based on a survey of about a quarter of a million consumers.
The average credit card debt for New Jersey consumers fell from $8,475 to $7,326 year over year — about a 13.5 percent decline. (Serrano, Gannett)