Consumer credit rose $6.86 billion in September

WASHINGTON | Fri Nov 7, 2008 3:09pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer borrowing unexpectedly rose by $6.86 billion in September, resuming its upward march after falling in August for the first time in more than a decade, a Federal Reserve report showed on Friday.

September consumer credit rose at an annual rate of 3.19 percent to a total of $2.588 trillion. The August decrease was revised to $6.29 billion from an originally reported $7.88 billion decline.

Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a $0.4 billion drop in consumer borrowing for September.

Non-revolving credit, which includes closed-end loans for big-ticket items like cars, boats, college educations and holidays, rose $5.91 billion, or at a 4.4 percent rate to $1.617 trillion.

Revolving credit, made up of credit and charge cards, rose $954 million, or a 1.2 percent rate, to $971.41 billion in September. This compares to an upwardly revised $347 million rise in August.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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