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While the U.S. credit card market is still plagued by heightened levels of delinquency and above-average amounts of consumer debt, the major card issuers say that the trends are moving in a broadly positive direction, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Keefe, Bruyette, and Woods analyst Sanjay Sakhrani told the Journal that "we are definitely past the peak in charge-offs. From an investor’s standpoint, this data begs the question whether we can see a pick-up in growth or at least a stemming of the decline in credit-card balances."

Annualized charge-off numbers declined across the board in March, the Wall Street Journal reported, with the amount of money written off as bad debts by the major card issuers slowly but steadily decreasing.

While this is hardly conclusive proof of a burgeoning economic recovery, it could still be a positive sign that the financial position of the average U.S. consumer is beginning to improve toward the point where consumer spending might begin to recover. Experts say that this development would be one of the signs that the crisis is well and truly past.

Americans born in the early 1980s – also known as the "millennial" generation – have seen their spending habits drastically reshaped by the recent recession, spurring a need for debt consolidation, according to Northwestern University’s Medill Reports.

FD International’s senior vice president of Americas, Brent McGoldrick, told the publication that "the early evidence is that it [spending habits] have changed and it will continue to change. They understand that things might not get better." The Medill Reports story also cites a recent poll showing that Millennial’s confidence in their ability to earn a living is quite low.

Americans of this age group are much more focused than previous generations on keeping themselves out of debt and managing what debt they are forced to take on with skill and responsibility, the Medill Reports story said.

For free-spending young people who were caught off-guard by the sudden economic downturn and found themselves in a surprise economic hole, debt consolidation and counseling could be a necessary step on the road back to financial stability.

Americans’ opinions regarding the economy are steadily becoming more favorable as they begin to be less pessimistic about their local economies, likely leading to a decreased need for some to consolidate debt and save their finances.

The latest RBC Consumer Outlook Index released on Thursday showed an increase of 8.1 points as it hit 72.7 in May, led primarily by an increasing confidence in an economic recovery as well as an improved job market.

Overall, 31 percent of consumers felt that the economy would likely improve in the next year, more than the 26 percent who feel it will become worse but less than the 43 percent who expect it to stay the same.

"This month’s RBC Consumer Outlook Index shows that consumers’ negative attitudes are moving towards neutral, but not yet into positives – they are not yet ready to say that things have gotten better, especially when it comes to the national economy," said Marc Harris, co-head of global research at RBC Capital Markets. "Few Americans are ready to say they are enjoying good times."

Despite the improved sentiments, 49 percent of consumers still described their personal financial situation as bad compared to three months ago, up from 45 percent who said so in April.

Likely spurred by some indicators of an economic rebound, newly released restaurant sales data for the end of 2010’s first quarter show significant improvements that may indicate consumers are not as reliant on debt consolidation tactics as they once were.

The latest Restaurant PerformanceIndex released by the National Restaurant Association last week saw a notable increase of 1.4 percent to hit 100.5 in March compared to the previous month’s figures.

The monthly increase in the index above 100 for the first time in 29 months and to its highest level since September 2007.

"The RPI’s solid performance in March was driven by improvements among both the current-situation and forward-looking indicators," said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the association. "Restaurant operators reported net gains in both same-store sales and customer traffic in March, the first time in 31 months that both indicators stood in positive territory."

Additionally, the NRA’s Current Situation Index, which measures current trends in same-store sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures, hit 99.0 during March, a 2.4 percent increase from February’s figures. While same-store sales and traffic indicators increased during the month, labor and capital expenditure indicators continued to lag and decline.

New government figures released at the start of May have found that the end of 2010’s first quarter saw widespread gains in most figures relating to consumer income, signaling that Americans may not be as strapped for cash and in need of debt consolidation as they have been in recent months.

According to newly released data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, personal income increased by $36 billion in March representing a 0.3 percent increase over the previous month’s figures.

Along with an increase in the amount of money finding its way into the bank accounts of consumers across the country, so too did the amount of extra cash that Americans had to spend. The BEA’s March figure for disposable personal income also saw an increase of $32.3 billion, a 0.3 percent increase from the previous month’s figures.

The BEA also found that private wage and salary disbursements for the month also saw an increase of $11.8 billion for the month, nearly double the $6.8 billion increase in the figure seen in February.

Goods-producing industries’ payrolls were also able to nearly offset a $3.3 billion decrease recorded in February as they increased by $2.2 billion in March.

Average interest rates for all mortgage types remained somewhat stable and showed minimal declines in the second part of April, continuing low rates that could be utilized to consolidate debt for homeowners looking to refinance.

According to the latest weekly national survey released by Bankrate.com on Thursday, the average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased slightly by 0.01 percentage points to hit 5.21 percent for the week ending April 21. While a decline, the rate change was minimal compared to the 0.14 percentage point decline seen one week prior.

Similarly, the average rate for 15-year FRMs declined by 0.01 percentage points as well, falling to 4.54 percent for the week. The mortgage type had also seen a more sizable decline of 0.13 percentage points one week earlier as well.

The average rate for 5/1-year adjustable-rate mortgages saw the largest decrease of the week as it fell by 0.05 percentage points to hit 4.37 percent. The week prior, the rate had seen a drop of 0.07 percentage points.

With the slight rate decreases, a $200,000 loan taken out in November 2008 that was refinanced under the current conditions would reduce mortgage payments by $142 every month as it fell to $1,099.46.