Hawaii residents paid down more of their credit card debt on time in the first quarter, signaling an improvement in the economic climate for consumers.

The average consumer in Hawaii carried a credit card balance of $4,978 in the first quarter, down 2.3 percent from $5,093 in the year-earlier period, according to new data from credit reporting agency TransUnion.

The rate of credit card payments at least 90 days overdue declined to 0.47 percent in the quarter from 0.54 percent in the same time last year. Both debt and overdue payments also fell from the fourth quarter of 2012, with the average balance totaling $5,287 and the delinquency rate at 0.67 percent, as consumers racked up more charges during the holiday season.

"My sense about our economy is that there’s some good signs out there: tourists numbers, hotel visitors, volume and pricing on real estate, even defense spending," said Hono­lulu bankruptcy trustee David Farmer.

"We’re not all going down the tubes. Everybody feels like so far, so good. Overall that’s a picture of where us folks in the street every day are feeling that it’s certainly not a bad day anymore. There’s some light on the horizon, but it’s not yet sunrise."

Hawaii had the 17th-highest debt and the 40th-highest delinquency rate among the states from January through March.

Nationally, average credit card debt per borrower dropped 1.7 percent year-over-year to $4,878 from $4,962, while delinquencies decreased to 0.69 percent from 0.73 percent.

"We traditionally see credit card delinquencies and balances decline during the first three months of the year as many people pay down their holiday shopping balances or use their tax refunds to pay off their debts," Ezra Becker, vice president of research and consulting in TransUnion’s financial services business unit, said in a statement. "In addition to the seasonal quarter-over-quarter drop, the year-over-year improvement in credit card delinquencies is indicative of how consumers continue to value their credit card relationships."

TransUnion projects nationwide delinquencies to rise slightly to 0.71 percent in the second quarter based on current economic assumptions.

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PAYING WITH PLASTIC
The highest and lowest states, and Washington, D.C., for credit card debt and delinquency rates in the first quarter: