U.S. consumer credit rose at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in October, following a 1.6 percent increase in the previous month, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.
The 2.3 percent gain, or 4.7 billion dollars, pushed the nation's total consumer credit up to an all-time high of 2.490 trillion dollars in October. Economists had been expecting an advance of 6 billion dollars for the month.
The U.S. central bank does not include loans secured by real estate, such as mortgages, in its measurement of consumer debt.
In October, consumer borrowing in revolving loans, a category that includes primarily credit card debt, advanced at an annual rate of 8.3 percent pace. That was up from a revised 6.0 percent rise in September and an even stronger pace of 10.6 percent in August.
Demand for nonrevolving credit used to finance cars, vacations, education and other things, however, fell by 1.3 percent at an annual rate after a drop of 1.1 percent in September.
Auto loans declined at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in October following a 1.1 percent fall in September.
Consumer credit reflects the situation of consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the overall U.S. economic activity and is a major force driving the economy to grow.
During the July-to-September quarter, U.S. consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 6.1 percent, up from growth paces of 5.3 percent in the second quarter and 4.7 percent in the first three months of this year.
Source: Xinhua
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