Monthly credit card purchase volumes rose between 6 and 9 percent across risk tiers in the third quarter of last year, the American Bankers Association said today in its January 2017 Credit Card Market Monitor.

The report, which reflects credit card data from July through September 2016, also found that the number of new credit card accounts rose 10.7 percent year-over-year to 87.3 million. The subprime risk category grew the fastest with 27 million new accounts over the previous 24 months. Attributing the figures largely to a strengthening economy, the association noted that subprime accounts still remained well below pre-recession levels, making up 20 percent of total accounts, while prime and super-prime accounts comprised 29 percent and 50 percent of the market, respectively.

“The U.S. economy is gaining strength, labor markets continue to firm and wages are up nearly 3 percent from a year ago,” Jess Sharp, executive director of ABA’s Card Policy Council, said in a statement. “Consumers were the primary driver of economic growth in 2016, and growth in new credit card accounts and purchase volumes is in line with broader economic trends.”

The association also said that consumers are increasingly using credit cards as a short-term financing vehicle, with revolvers (account holders who carry a monthly balance) rising 0.8 percent to 43.3 percent of all accounts. Transactors, or those who pay off their balances every month, fell 0.3 percent to 29.2 percent. The remaining 27.5 percent of accounts were dormant.

Outstanding credit card debt as a share of disposable income remained near post-recession lows and has not climbed above 5.45 percent or fallen below 5.15 percent in nearly five years, the association said.

“The financial health of consumers has improved, consumer confidence is high and credit card debt is stable relative to income,” Sharp said.

The full report is available here.