(July 1, 2011) ATLANTA (PRNewswire) — In its latest national, monthly report on consumer credit trends, Equifax reports that U.S. consumer credit continues to show signs of improvement as the recovery progresses, even with strong unemployment and housing headwinds.

According to Equifax's latest monthly Credit Trend Report, new credit dollars are increasing with originations for auto, bankcard, consumer finance and home equity revolving lines on a Year-to-Date (YTD) basis this year from March 2010.

Total new credit available today YTD from March 2010 to March 2011 is well below pre-recession levels but has increased more than 15 percent since 2009 to $167 billion. Deleveraging continues but early signs of portfolio expansion are evident in auto lending Year over Year (YOY) growth and credit card limit increases after two years of declines.

Auto loan originations rose nearly 12 percent year-to-date since March 2010 and are up 21.4 percent year over year. Recent increases in auto loan originations include increases in Sub Prime lending.

"Despite concerns of the economy relapsing, several current metrics indicate the credit cycle is stabilizing — even growing somewhat as consumer payment behavior improves," said Michael Koukounas, Equifax's Senior Vice President of Client Services.

Risk scores are trending upward. The average Equifax Risk Score reached 695 in May 2011. The percent of consumer risk scores defined as high risk dropped — signaling an improvement in payment behavior. Equifax's Risk Score predicts the likelihood of serious delinquency on consumer credit obligations within 24 months of scoring.