While rising debt issuance usually points to a strong economy, danger could be lurking ahead.



Last year, credit card debt in the U.S. surged by approximately $71 billion to $917.7 billion, according to a new study from CardHub.com. The research also found that most of the debt accrued in 2015 came in the fourth quarter, when Americans tacked on more than $52 billion.

"With 7 of the past 10 quarters reflecting year-over-year regression in consumer performance, evidence is mounting to support the notion that credit card users are reverting to pre-downturn bad habits," CardHub CEO Odysseas Papadimitriou said in a statement.



Fourth-quarter credit card debt also grew at its largest pace since the Great Recession, CardHub also said.

"It is something we need to keep an eye on if borrowing continues to grow rapidly," said Scott Hoyt, senior director at Moody's Analytics. He also said the implications of rising credit card debt would be similar to what happened in the recession, "when consumers became overly leveraged."