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Consumer credit dips unexpectedly

Consumer credit dips unexpectedly
Mon Nov 7, 2005 3:29 PM ET9

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer credit unexpectedly dipped by $59.4 million in September in its first monthly decline since November 2004, a Federal Reserve report showed on Monday.

The central bank said total consumer debt outstanding was largely unchanged, edging down to a seasonally adjusted $2.1601 trillion from a revised $2.1602 trillion in August.

Wall Street analyst polled by Reuters had expected a rise of $6.0 billion in consumer credit in September. September's decline is only the fourth monthly decline since September 1998, according to Fed records.

The Fed said non-revolving credit -- made up of closed-end loans for cars, boats, education expenses and holidays -- fell by $3.20 billion in September. Revolving credit, which includes credit and charge cards, rose $3.14 billion.


LINK: http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-11-07T202849Z_01_S...