Consumer Credit Increased in November

Consumer credit rose $1.3 billion in November, up 0.7 percent from October, as a result of more people seeking nonrevolving credit, according to the latest monthly statistics from the Federal Reserve Board. The amount of revolving credit – which is typically associated with credit card debt – fell 6.3 percent to $796.5 billion, while nonrevolving credit – loans for homes, education and so forth – jumped to nearly $1.61 trillion.

In particular, the amount of money consumers borrowed from federal government, which recently became a larger lender to consumers seeking student loans, rose to $315.7 billion, the report said. That’s up from $312.1 billion in October.

Revolving credit has dropped significantly since the beginning of the recession, falling by at least 7.3 percent in each quarter of 2010, the report said. Through November, it had declined almost $100 billion since the third quarter of 2009. Meanwhile, the amount of nonrevolving credit consumers carry has risen every three months since the fourth quarter of 2009.

November saw the smallest tumble for credit card debt in months, likely because consumers spent more ahead of the holiday season. However, the majority of people still opted to use cash, debit and other forms of payment instead of taking on additional debt.