The total amount of credit card borrowing by Americans increased in the last month of 2010 for the first time since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, according to The Daily Telegraph. On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve reported that credit card borrowing increased by $2.3 billion in December to reach $800.5 billion, which is the first monthly gain since August 2008. However, that level is still only about one third of the July 2008 peak figure of $2.58 trillion.
The positive change in credit card borrowing comes as the central bank readies for increasing stimulus to give the economy a boost, although in recent months the recovery has been seen to be gaining traction. Neil Dutta of Bank of America said, “Credit conditions have broadly loosened,” and the increase in borrowing suggests that consumers could start to drive the recovery. Consumer spending increased in December for the third month in a row, adding $6.1 billion to reach $2.41 trillion.