WASHINGTON - For the first time in 10 years, the national credit card delinquency rate fell from the second to the third quarter, more evidence that Americans are trying to pay down their debt as the recession continues to claim jobs. The share of U.S. credit card holders who are 90 or more days delinquent fell to 1.1 percent in the third quarter, down nearly 6 percent from the second quarter, according to a new report by TransUnion, one of the leading credit-reporting agencies. Mississippi topped all states with a 13.4 percent quarterly drop in its delinquency rate. The decline - along with a third-quarter slip in the savings rate - suggests ‘continued consumer efforts to keep debt to a minimum and debt repayment under control in the face of an already depressed labor market,’ said Ezra Becker, the director of consulting and strategy in TransUnion’s financial services group. ‘Consumers recognize that their credit cards are their primary purchasing vehicles in this economy.’ As evidence, the average debt among card borrowers fell to $5,612 in the third quarter, down nearly 2 percent from $5,719 in the preceding quarter. The findings are based on data from […]