U.S. credit card balances failed to decline in the first three months of 2023 as Americans find themselves increasingly burdened by the relentless grip of chronic inflation. Total credit card debt stood at $986 billion in the first quarter, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit on May 15, showing a record 17 percent jump year-over-year. 
However, the total remained flat from the fourth quarter’s record of $986 billion. Still, the lack of a decline is unprecedented for this time of the year.
“Normally, credit-card balances fall from the fourth quarter to the first quarter as the dust settles on the holiday shopping season and consumers prioritize debt payoff as a New Year’s resolution,” Bankrate senior industry analyst Ted Rossman told The Epoch Times. “In fact, this is the only time since the New York Fed started tracking these figures in 2003 that credit-card balances did not fall from the fourth quarter to the first quarter.”…