NEW YORK — National default rates increased during the month of September, according to the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices.

The national composite was 1.38 percent in September, slightly up from 1.34 percent posted in August. The first mortgage default rate was 1.28, up from 1.23 percent in August, while default rate for second mortgages rose from 0.57 percent to 0.69 percent in September.

Meanwhile, the auto loan default rate stood at 1.15 percent in September, up from a 1.11 percent in August. The default rate for bank cars rose slightly from 3.12 percent in August to d 3.14 percent in September. 

"Consumer credit quality continues to look healthy," says David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee for S&P Dow Jones Indices. "Two cities, New York and Dallas, saw their default rates rise in September, while three cities – Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami – saw decreases. All moves were small. The spread between the highest rate (Miami at 2.11 percent) and the lowest one (Dallas at 1.23 percent) is getting smaller."