US March Consumer Credit Fell $11.1B, Record Dollar Drop
Last update: 5/7/2009 3:00:37 PM
By Meena Thiruvengadam
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Consumers in March cut borrowing by the largest dollar amount since the government began tracking data in 1943, as consumer credit outstanding dropped at its quickest pace in almost 20 years.
Total consumer credit outstanding fell 5.2% in March, the largest percentage drop since December 1990, the U.S. Federal Reserve said in a report released Thursday.
Consumer credit outstanding declined more than three times as much as analysts had expected, falling $11.1 billion to $2.551 trillion in March, the report showed. That follows an $8.1 billion drop in February, an upward revision from a previously estimated $7.5 billion decrease.
Wall Street had expected consumer borrowing to fall by $3.5 billion in March.
Revolving credit, which mainly reflects credit card financing, fell $5.4 billion in March to $945.9 billion, compared with a $9.7 billion drop in February.
Non-revolving credit, such as car and boat loans, fell $5.7 billion. That followed a $1.6 billion increase in February.
The volatile credit data are frequently revised and excludes home mortgages and other real estate-secured loans.
-By Meena Thiruvengadam, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9255; meena.thiruvengadam@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 07, 2009 15:00 ET (19:00 GMT) |
