US commercial paper outstanding rises in week -Fed

NEW YORK Aug 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. commercial paper market expanded in the latest week, suggesting the severity of a global credit crisis is starting to ease, Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday.

For the week ended Aug. 19, the size of the U.S. commercial paper market, a vital source of short-term funding for daily operations at many companies, rose by $35.8 billion, the biggest jump in at least four months, to $1.111 trillion, from $1.075 trillion the previous week.

Asset-backed commercial paper outstanding fell $6.2 billion to $416.3 billion after falling $12.3 billion the previous week.

Unsecured financial issuance outstanding rose $38.1 billion after rising $12.1 billion the previous week.

The overall U.S. commercial paper market peaked at about $2.2 trillion outstanding in August 2007 when the credit crisis broke out. (Reporting by Dena Aubin; Editing by James Dalgleish)