Consumer Credit Fell at Fastest Rate in 14 Years in October

The U.S. Federal Reserve announced Thursday that in the month of October, total consumer credit fell by $1.2 billion, marking the largest drop in consumer credit in more than 14 years.

Sound familiar? Last month, the Federal Reserve announced the exact same numbers for consumer credit in September. Yesterday, the Fed revised the $1.2 billion credit loss in September to an increase of $4 billion for the month.

Consumer credit fell at a 0.6% annual rate in October, the biggest decline since a 0.96% drop in October 1992, the Fed said.

Non-revolving debt, auto loans specifically, was blamed for the drop in October. Non-revolving credit fell at a 3.3% annual rate in October.

Revolving credit, essentially credit cards, rose 4.1% in October, or a total of $2.9 billion. The Fed also revised September’s revolving credit up to a 4.9% gain from the previous 4.0% increase.

While analysts and economists hemmed and hawed over the numbers, portending imminent economic disaster, the revised numbers from September were largely overlooked and the prospect of the exact same revision for October’s numbers was ignored. Analysts surveyed by both Reuters and Marketwatch predicted a $4 billion increase in consumer credit for October, a figure identical to the revision of September’s numbers.