Credit union implications for the Fed’s report on GDP

The Federal Reserve has confirmed that the United States’ economic growth stopped toward the end of last year. The Bureau of Economic Analysis said that GDP contracted -0.1 percent in the last three months of 2012. Though that might sound discouraging, the Fed released a statement that also had some good news for credit unions.

The statistics on consumption might reflect an improvement in consumer spending. The Fed estimated that GDP will increase 2.2 percent for this year, and that could mean growth in loan demand for 2013, according to Brian Turner, director and chief strategist with Catalyst Strategic Solutions. He says the credit union industry reported a 4.6 percent increase in loans outstanding in 2012.