In the third quarter, the store credit card issuer and consumer lender revealed that its earnings declined about 8% despite 9% growth its loan portfolio versus the year-ago period. On the conference call, management indicated that relatively higher growth in CareCredit, which finances consumer healthcare expenses, is due to a general trend of rising medical costs. The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 4.2% in September, its lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis, and inflation-adjusted weekly earnings for full-time workers recently hit an all-time high.