January 18th, 2012 
davidguide Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Consumers decreased their credit card debt by 11 percent last year, with the average debt load declining in every state.
That information came from a report released Tuesday by credit tracking and financial education website CreditKarma.com. It analyzed data from more than 300,000 of its users.
“The new year typically inspires consumers to get in control of their finances, especially after the bout of holiday spending that occurred in December. Starting in January, you’ll see consumers start focusing on decreasing debt,” said Ken Lin, CEO of CreditKarma.com.
CreditKarma.com found that the average credit card balance was $6,576 in 2011, down from $7,404 the previous year.
However, that decline came in a climate of weak consumer confidence, which kept spending down as banks continued to tighten lending while slashing credit limits for many existing customers.
While credit card debt was down, so were credit scores.
Nationally, credit scores fell eight points to 660 in 2011 from the previous year.
States with the highest average credit scores are:
- California, Massachusetts and New Jersey — 679
- Washington — 675
- New York — 674
States with the lowest average credit scores are:
- Mississippi — 622
- Louisiana — 635
- Arkansas — 635
- South Carolina — 635
- West Virginia — 637
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