WASHINGTON — Consumer borrowing broke a record stretch of declines with a small increase in January as a boost in auto loans offset continued weakness in credit- card borrowing.
The small gain, the first in nearly a year, could be a signal that Americans are regaining confidence in the economy.
The Federal Reserve reported Friday that consumer borrowing rose by $4.96 billion in January, surprising economists who were looking for borrowing to decline by $4.5 billion. It was the first gain after a record 11 straight declines, and it was the largest increase since July 2008.
In percentage terms, the overall increase was an advance of 2.43 percent and followed a revised 2.23 percent drop in December.
The strength in January came from a $6.62 billion increase in borrowing for auto loans and other types of nonrevolving debt. That was a 5.01 percent gain and followed a 3.69 percent rise in the auto loan category in December.
Credit cards and other types of revolving credit fell $1.66 billion or 2.3 percent. Even with the decline, it was a smaller drop than the 12.9 percent plunge in December. Credit card borrowing has fallen for a record 16 straight months although the January decline was the smallest since July.
Some analysts believe consumer borrowing will stabilize in coming months and resume growing although they said the rebound will be restrained by the tighter credit restrictions.
