After showing signs of momentum, consumer borrowing slowed in October, according to Federal Reserve data released yesterday, MarketWatch.com reported. Total consumer credit increased $7.2 billion. That’s an annual growth rate of 2.1 percent. This was down from a $15 billion gain in September. Economists had been expecting the strength in September to continue and had penciled in a $17 billion increase, according to Econoday. Revolving credit, like credit cards, fell 6.7 percent in October after a 3.2 percent jump in the prior month, which was the first gain in the category since the pandemic struck in March. Nonrevolving credit, typically auto and student loans, rose at a 4.8 percent rate after a 4.7 percent rate in September. Separate data from the New York Fed found that credit-card balances fell by $10 billion in the third quarter after a record $76 billion decline in the second quarter. The data does not include mortgage loans, which is the largest component of household debt. Mortgage originations came in at $ 1 trillion in the third quarter, the second largest quarterly increase on record, the New York Fed said.
