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US consumer credit shoots higher
American consumers went back to using their credit cards in March to keep spending while student and new-car loans shot up as the value of outstanding consumer credit jumped at the fastest rate since late 2001, data from the Federal Reserve showed last night.
Total consumer credit grew by $21.36bn – more than twice the $9.8bn rise that Wall Street economists had forecast. That followed a revised $9.27bn rise in outstanding credit in February.
Analysts expressed some reservations whether the date reliably signaled a real pickup in demand, something that would normally fuel stronger growth, or just a need to rely more on credit in an economy with anaemic job growth.