Washington, DC, October 7--Consumers in August pulled back on their borrowing by the largest amount since the end of 1990 as confidence in the economy fell and energy prices surged.
The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that consumer credit dropped by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.4 percent in August, or by $2.4 billion, from the previous month. That was the largest dollar decline since December 1990.
The first decline in nine months left total consumer credit outstanding at $2.04 trillion.
