Major U.S. credit-card lenders reported lower delinquency rates Monday, as fewer Americans fell behind on payments, in another sign that the economic recovery is gaining momentum.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) and Capital One (NYSE:COF) said the rate of late paymentsi n their credit cards fell to the lowest levels this year in October.

Delinquencies are the first sign that consumers have stopped paying their bills, and are indicators of future losses. They have fallen to the lowest rates this year at the top U.S. credit-card lenders, signaling that American consumers have recovered from the worst of the severe financial crisis.

The U.S. Commerce Department provided more positive evidence for the economy Monday when it reported that sales at retailers rose more than expected in October.

But uncertainty remains, as persistently high unemployment slows the rate of recovery at consumer lenders. Overall charge-off rates have improved at most banks, but remain high by historical standards. Loan portfolios are still shrinking, with consumers reluctant to take on new debt.

Bank of America, for example, said in a regulatory filing Monday that its charge-off rate inched back up above 10% in October, after falling to 9.99% in September.

The largest U.S. consumer bank still has the nation's worst credit-card loss rate, but it has improved from more than 13% at the beginning of 2010. The company's delinquency rate in October fell to 5.60% from 5.71%

Lenders file monthly credit-card performance reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Discover said in a separate filing Monday that its charge-off rate fell to 6.83% in October, from 7.15% in September.

Like American Express, Discover lends directly to consumers, but also competes with Visa (NYSE:V) and MasterCard (NYSE:MA) to process credit-card transactions for other banks. The company said its delinquency rate fell to 4.34% in October, from 4.41%  in September.

Capital One said charge-offs fell sharply in October, to 7.26% from 8.38% in September. The bank has reduced its loss rate from over 10% at the beginning of the year.

But Capital One's delinquency rate only improved slightly, falling to 4.45% from 4.53% a month earlier.

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and American Express (NYSE:AXP) were also expected to report their monthly credit-card performance data Monday.

Shares of most U.S. credit-card lenders opened slightly higher Monday, but Discover's shares slid in early trading.