Equifax released its second-quarter Market Pulse Index September 28, reporting a small rise from 60.9 to 61.3. The company says it saw the first pause in a widening economic divide in three years. It also notes the national index remains just below its year-earlier level and that one quarter does not establish a trend.
The index combines credit, debt, income, assets and VantageScore information using proprietary methods. It is not the same as a credit score, a savings balance or a government measure of wealth inequality. Its consumer-segment labels should not be confused with a lender's approval criteria.
The report says 43.5% of consumers in its most financially strained segment have prime or super-prime credit scores. That helps explain why a history of paying on time can coexist with a fragile budget. It does not mean every high-score borrower is struggling or that a low-score borrower has no assets.
For a household weighing a new payment, available savings and income stability matter alongside the score a lender sees. A small composite-index improvement is not permission to borrow more. The useful news is that Equifax's latest measure separates payment history from financial capacity, rather than treating good credit as proof of a reserve for emergencies.