January Shows Increase in Auto Loans

According to the Federal Reserve this week, there was an increase this past January in auto loans. Some say this is due to the debt levels that many are feeling and trying to adjust to – however, credit card debt fell while auto loans went up.

The Federal Reserve said that consumer credit rose 3.2%, which is up from December’s 2.5% - which is traditionally a busy month. Experts say that they should see the overall consumer debt, including credit card debt, continue to fall as consumers try to balance the heavy credit load that many are carrying right now.

The report shows that auto loans went up 4.4%, which is much higher than the 2.9% increase that they showed in December. Some of that can be due to consumers spending money on items other than cars, but January’s figures show that they are getting back into the auto loan business.

The Federal Reserve’s measure of consumer borrowing does not include real estate loans, but showed that increased borrowing put consumer debt at $2.41 trillion for January. This would be an increase of $6.4 billion from the previous month.



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