UPDATE 1-American Express US credit card defaults rise

* Net charge-off rate jumps to 10.1 percent in April

* Delinquency rate falls to 4.9 percent

* Shares decline 1.7 percent to $24.30

NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - American Express Co (AXP.N)
said on Friday that U.S. credit card defaults jumped in April,
as a deep recession slashed hundreds of thousands of jobs in
the last month.

In a regulatory filing, the largest U.S. charge card
operator by sales volume said its net charge-off rate -- the
percentage of debt it does not expect to be repaid -- rose to
10.1 percent in April from 8.80 percent in March.

However, the rate for loans at least 30 days delinquent --
an indicator of future defaults -- fell to 4.9 percent from 5.1
percent.

American Express shares were down 1.7 percent at $24.30 in
afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock is
up 31 percent in 2009.
(Reporting by Juan Lagorio, editing by Matthew Lewis)