Credit Union and Economic Reports

Credit Union Trends Report

The Credit Union Trends Report is a monthly "pulse check" on the state of the credit union marketplace, often placed in a historical context. The report includes data from two months prior and is published and distributed by Steven Rick from TruStage™.

March 2024

• Home prices rose more than 6% over the last year, above the 4.1% long run average.
• The credit union industry’s net income to average asset ratio, return on assets, fell to 0.68% in 2023, down from 0.88% in 2022.
• Total credit union memberships reached 142.1 million in January 2024.
• Credit union savings balances fell 0.3% in January due to members paying down credit card balances.

Past reports

February 2024

The personal savings rates averaged only 4.5% in 2023, below the 6% long run average, creating a headwind for credit union deposit growth.

January 2023

For the first time in many years, small credit unions reported faster loan growth than larger credit unions because of their greater liquidity.

Economic report

March 2024

• The core PCE measure of inflation rose 2.8% during the last year ending in February, approaching the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.
• The U.S. economy grew 3.4% in the 4th quarter of 2023, above the 2% natural growth rate and increased 3.1% from the 4th quarter of 2022.
• Average hourly earnings rose 4.3% during the last year, above the Federal Reserve’s target of 3.5%.
• The credit union loan-to-asset ratio rose to 71.2% in January, from 69.9% one year ago.