Consumer credit rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of +3.6% in July, for the second consecutive monthly increase after a revised +3.3% increase in June. Revolving credit decreased by -0.4%, but the drop was significantly smaller than either the -30.8% drop in Q2, or the -7.6% drop in Q1. Non-revolving credit grew by +4.8%, slowing from June’s +5.1% rate, with motor vehicle loans in Q2 recovering to a $44.6 billion annual rate, down only -8% from the $48.5 billion rate one year previously.

Wholesale prices grew +0.3% in August, slowing from a +0.6% rate in July, but were down ‑0.2% for the year. The increase was led by a +0.5% increase in services, which itself rested on a +1.1% increase in margins for machinery, equipment, parts and supplies wholesaling. Overall wholesale goods prices were up +0.1%, with drops in food (-0.4%) and energy prices (-0.1%), balancing out a +0.3% gain in prices for other goods. Removing trade margins, food and energy prices, core wholesale inflation was up +0.3% for the month and +0.3% for the year.

Consumer prices were up +0.4% in August, slowing from July’s +0.6% increase and up +1.3% for the year. Gasoline prices rose +2.0%, helping pull energy prices up +0.9, although yearly prices were down for both overall energy by -9.0% and gasoline by -16.8%. Food prices were up +0.1% for the month and +4.1% for the year, and core prices, which exclude food and energy, were up +0.4% for the month and +1.7% for the year. Prices for new cars were flat in August, and up +0.7% for the year, but used car prices were up +5.4% for the month and +4.0% for the year.