Consumer Credit Jump Is Biggest in 9 Years : Economy: April’s $8.9-billion increase is 11th straight monthly gain. Credit card borrowing rises a record $5 billion.

Consumer credit soared $8.9 billion in April, the biggest jump in more than nine years and the 11th straight monthly increase.

Credit card borrowing set a record by increasing nearly $5 billion to $293.8 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, the Federal Reserve Board said Tuesday.

The Fed said all borrowing rose 13.2% at an annual rate, following a revised 12.6% jump in March and 6% in February.

Many economists had projected that credit would be up about $6 billion in April. They expected the total to be held down by Easter’s early arrival this year, meaning consumers did much of their holiday shopping in March rather than April.

Retail sales declined 0.8% in April while overall consumer spending for the month slipped 0.1%, the Commerce Department previously reported.

But the Fed said revolving credit, meaning credit card borrowing, skyrocketed 20.7% at an annual rate in April, accounting for about half the overall increase.

The $8.9-billion total increase for all borrowing was the largest since consumer credit soared $11.6 billion in March, 1985.

Analysts conceded that it seems contradictory that Americans would be piling up debt at the same time they were curtailing spending. But they said the two sets of numbers do not always move in tandem.

“It looks like people are borrowing and not spending,” said economist Kurt Karl of WEFA Group, a forecasting service in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. “It may be people borrowed this month and next they’ll pay off the bills.”

The Fed said the latest increase in borrowing brought outstanding debt to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $817.8 billion in April, up from $808.9 billion.

Auto loans rose at an 11.9% annual rate to $287 billion after a 16.2% increase in March.

Other forms of credit, including loans for mobile homes, education, boats, trailers and vacations, were up 5.5% to $236.9 billion, after a 16.6% rise in March.

Economists expect spring consumer spending to increase, but only at a moderate pace.

Consumer spending represents about two-thirds of the nation’s economic activity. Consumer credit includes all household debt not secured by real estate, namely home equity loans and mortgages.

Separately, the Commerce Department reported sales at the wholesale level dropped in April after three straight monthly increases and inventories of unsold goods rose.

Total sales by wholesalers fell 1.2% to a seasonally adjusted $165.9 billion--the first decline in sales this year following three straight monthly increases in the opening quarter of 1994.

Sales in March rose a revised 1.7% instead of 1.3% as previously reported.

Inventories increased by 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted $217.9 billion following a revised 0.5% decrease in March, which was originally reported as a 0.9% fall.