adminDuring March, credit unions picked up 592,000 in new memberships, loan and savings balances grew at a 13.4 percent and 7.8 percent seasonally-adjusted annualized pace, respectively. Firms hired 79,000 workers, nominal consumer spending was unchanged, and long-term interest rates increased 6 basis points. Real GDP growth was 0.7 percent in the first quarter due to a slowdown in inventory accumulation and weak consumer spending. That’s according to CUNA Mutual Group’s May 2017 Credit Union Trends report highlighting March 2017 Data.
The report also shows total credit union assets rose 1.7 percent in March, faster than the 1.0 percent gain reported in March of 2016. Assets rose 8.7 percent during the past year due to an 8.6 percent increase in deposits, 19.3 percent increase in borrowings, and 5.9 percent increase in capital.
Credit union loan balances rose 0.9 percent in March, slower than the 1.1 percent pace reported in March 2016, and 11.3 percent during the last 12 months. March is historically the third weakest loan growth month of the year, with seasonal factors typically shaving -0.24 percentage points from the underlying trend growth rate. The lending season is now in full swing with strong loan growth expected from April through September.
