Consumer Debt Rises $7 Billion in November

Americans took on $7.95 billion more in installment debt than they paid off in November in yet another sign, analysts said, that economic activity rebounded late last year.

The November increase followed a $6.28-billion October increase.

While both gains were down from the record $10.23 billion in credit growth in May, 1984, they were substantially ahead of levels in August and September.

Analysts said the strong gains showed that consumer buying, especially for big-ticket items such as automobiles, picked up after a summer slowdown.

Sandra Shaber, an economist at Chase Econometrics, a private forecasting firm, said the November credit gain was further confirmation that the country is not in danger of tumbling into a recession.

“The consumer sector is not going to return to the boom conditions of early 1984, but we still have some modest expansion left in consumer buying. In terms of keeping the recovery alive, that is critically important,” she said.

At the end of November, outstanding installment debt totaled $461.74 billion, up 20.6% from a year earlier.