During December, credit unions picked-up 373,000 in new memberships and loan and savings balances grew at a 10.2 percent and 6.2 percent seasonally-adjusted annualized pace, respectively. Firms hired 160,000 workers, nominal consumer spending increased 0.4 percent and long-term interest rates increased 5 basis points. The economy grew 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter and 2.5 percent over the last year.
At the end of December, CUNA’s monthly estimates reported 5,767 CUs in operation, 39 fewer than one month earlier. Year-over-year, the number of credit unions declined by 255, more than the 214 lost in the 12 months ending in December 2016.
Total credit union assets rose 0.3 percent in December, below the 0.5 percent rise reported in December of 2016. Assets rose 6.3 percent during the past year due to a 6.3 percent increase in deposits, a 3.0 percent decline in borrowings and a 7.7 percent increase in capital.
The nation’s credit unions increased their loan portfolios by 1.0 percent in December, more than the 0.9 percent pace reported in December 2016. Loan balances are up 10.5 percent over the last 12 months. With loan balances growing faster than assets during the last year, the credit union average loan-to-asset ratio reached 70.4 percent, up from 67.5 percent in December 2016.
Credit union memberships rose 0.33 percent in December, up from the 0.31 percent gain reported in December 2016. Memberships are up 4.3 percent over the past year due to robust demand for credit, solid job growth and comparatively lower fees and loan interest rates.
Credit union loan delinquency rates fell to 0.79 percent in December; down from 0.83 percent one year earlier due to fast loan growth. The credit union net capital-to-asset ratio fell to 10.9 percent in December, up from 10.6 percent in December 2016 and slightly below the community banks’ core capital ratio of 10.7 percent.
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