U.S. Consumer Credit Unexpectedly Slumps $12.1 Billion In March

(RTTNews) - Reflecting a steep drop in revolving credit, the Federal Reserve released a report on Thursday showing an unexpected decrease in U.S. consumer credit in the month of March.

The report said consumer credit fell by $12.1 billion in March after surging up by a downwardly revised $20.0 billion in February.

The pullback came as a surprise to economists, who had expected credit to increase by $15.0 billion compared to the $22.3 billion jump originally reported for the previous month.

The unexpected decrease came as revolving credit, which largely reflects credit card debt, plunged by $28.2 billion in March after rising by $3.3 billion in February.

Meanwhile, the Fed said non-revolving credit, such as student loans and car loans, increase by $16.1 billion in March after climbing by $16.6 billion in the previous month.

Compared to the same month a year ago, consumer credit in March was down by 3.4 percent as a 30.9 percent nosedive in revolving credit more than offset a 6.2 percent jump in non-revolving credit.