Shocking stat of the day: Total consumer credit in the US surged by a record +40.8 billion in December. This is a sharp turnaround from the -5.4 billion decline posted in November. Revolving credit, which includes credit cards, jumped +22.9 billion ALONE in December. Non-revolving credit, covering student and auto loans surged +18.0 billion. Over the last 5 years, total consumer credit has risen +950 billion to an all-time high of 5.1 trillion. Americans are still "fighting" inflation with debt.