US reports rise in consumer credit in November

US consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 4.8 percent in November, but the growth rate slowed down from a revised 7 percent in October, the U.S. Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. Total consumer borrowing rose from a revised 3.075 trillion U.S. dollars in October to a seasonally adjusted 3.087 trillion dollars in November. The 12.3-billion-dollar increase followed a revised 17.9 billion rise in October. Revolving debt, the type which includes credit cards, edged up to 8,569 billion dollars in November, up 0.6 percent at an annual rate from the revised figure in October. The borrowing in the non-revolving category that includes auto and student loans, rose at an annual rate of 6.4 percent to 2.2304 trillion dollars. Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the overall U.S. economic activity, is the major engine of U.S. economic growth. A rise in consumer credit indicated consumers boosted their borrowing on spending.