by Alison Storm | 08/26/10

Two new studies seem to be a bit contradictory. One says credit card spending is up from last year. Another says debt is dropping. A recent Newsweek article says that the research company Synovate found that credit cardholders spent an average of $1,559 using plastic in 2010. That's a six percent increase compared to 2009 credit card spending which was at $1,471. The study also says that the last time Americans spent more was just before the financial meltdown, at the end of 2008. Spending on credit cards had reached an average of $1,710 a year.

Newsweek also referred to another new study done by TransUnion, a consumer credit reporting agency. This study says that credit card debt dropped to its lowest level in eight years. In recent months, average credit card debt fell to $4,951 which is down by more than 13 percent from a year ago when average credit card debt sat at $5,719. Credit card debt has not fallen below $5,000 since the beginning of 2002.

But experts say this new data doesn't necessarily mean Americans are being more responsible. “Debt is more extensive now,” John Ulzheimer of Credit.com told Newsweek, saying that interest rates have risen to an all-time high, averaging 14.7 percent last quarter. “There’s much more motivation to get out of it.”

New rules restrict banks from increasing interest rates suddenly. “Banks essentially had a small time period where they could still raise rates overnight,” study director Lauren Guenveur told Newsweek. But Ulzheimer told Newsweek he's focusing on the positive. “At the end of the day, the fact that we’re in less debt now is better than news that we are in more of it."