NEW YORK — Last year finished strong in regard to consumer credit defaults — especially auto loans — according to December data connected with the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices.

Produced by Standard & Poor's and Experian, the readings showed auto loans actually improved the most, dropping by 4.45 percent from 1.76 percent to 1.68 percent. Analysts also indicated auto loan defaults have improved by 36.85 percent since the close of 2009.

The noteworthy auto loan improvement helped the overall index reading gain positive ground, too. The composite mark that takes a comprehensive measure of changes in consumer credit defaults dipped to 3.01 percent, edging lower by 0.99 percent. The reading also is 31.03 percent lower than the year-ago mark.

In other elements of the index, Standard & Poor's and Experian determined December default rates for first and second mortgages ticked lower to 2.93 percent and 1.74 percent, respectively. The year-over-year improvement for first mortgages settled at 38.57 percent, and the change for second mortgages was even greater, a drop of 50.76 percent.

Officials added the December bank card index declined slightly to a 6.73 percent default rate. The 1.77-percent month-over-month improvement sparked a year-over-year downward push of 17.68 percent.

Turning to a look at the five largest metropolitan statistical areas reviewed each month, Standard & Poor's and Experian discovered just one had a December index reading edge higher. The lone area was Dallas, which still has the lowest overall mark among the five at 2.21 percent, but the figure was 0.37 percent higher than November. The reading also still was 35.38 percent lower than a year ago.

The December readings for the remaining four cities included:

—New York: 3.01 percent, down 0.99 percent from November and 31.03 percent from a year ago.

—Chicago: 3.13 percent, down 6.13 percent from November and 39.87 percent from a year ago.

—Los Angeles: 3.07 percent, down 5.82 percent from November and 51.69 percent from a year ago.

—Miami: 10.15 percent, down 1.13 percent from November and 26.02 percent from a year ago.

"Default rates across the four major categories of consumer borrowing declined in December from November and from a year earlier. Nationally, consumers continue to gradually improve their financial condition," explained David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee for S&P.

"Separately, data from the Federal Reserve shows that bank card credit declined through November," Blitzer continued. "Debt-service ratios, the proportion of disposable income that goes to paying debt, continues to decline. On a regional basis, the five cities we cover suggest that the Sunbelt continues to see greater than typical default rates."