US consumer credit up 5.4% in August

US consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 5.4 percent in August, and the growth picked up speed from a revised 4.1 percent in the prior month, the U.S. Federal Reserve reported Monday. Total consumer borrowing rose from a revised 3.0233 trillion U. S. dollars in July to a seasonally adjusted 3.0369 trillion dollars in August. Revolving debt, the type which includes credit cards, edged down to 848.9 billion dollars in August, down 1.2 percent at an annual rate from the revised figure in July and the third consecutive monthly decline. The borrowing in the non-revolving category that includes auto and student loans, rose at an annual rate of 8.0 percent to 2.1880 trillion dollars. Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the overall U.S. economic activity, was the major engine of the country's economic growth. A rise in consumer credit indicated consumers boosted their borrowing on spending.