U.S. Consumer Credit Climbs More Than Expected In July

(RTTNews) - Reflecting increases in both revolving and non-revolving credit, the Federal Reserve released a report on Monday showing that U.S. consumer credit increased by much more than expected in the month of July.

The Fed said consumer credit jumped by $26.0 billion in July after climbing by an upwardly revised $18.8 billion in June.

Economists had been expecting consumer credit to rise by about $17.3 billion, matching the increase originally reported for the previous month.

The bigger than expected increase was partly due to continued growth in non-revolving credit such as student loans and car loans, which increased by $20.6 billion in July after rising by $17 billion in June.

Revolving credit, which largely reflects credit card debt, also rose by $5.3 billion in July after edging up by $1.8 billion in the previous month.

The Fed also said consumer credit rose by an annual rate of 9.7 percent in July, as non-revolving credit jumped by 10.6 percent and revolving credit increased by 7.4 percent.