Consumer Debt Up in October

Washington, DC, December 8–Consumers took on more debt in October, the Federal Reserve said.

Consumer credit outstanding rose $7.7 billion in October to $2.093 trillion. That follows a revised $13.6 billion rise in September to $2.086 trillion, originally reported up $9.8 billion.

The October consumer credit rise was larger than Wall Street expected. Analysts had forecast consumer debt growth to rise by $6.2 billion in October. Consumer-credit data tends to be highly volatile from month to month and is frequently revised.