The monthly report from the Federal Reserve indicates that more Americans are borrowing for "big-ticket" items via boat, education and car loans, while simultaneously decreasing their amount of credit card related debt.<\/p>\n
The Federal Reserve's recently released figures, which tracked spending throughout February, are broken down into "non-revolving" and "revolving" debt. In simple terms, revolving debt is anything that's put on a credit card, while non-revolving are long-term loans other than mortgages (typically boat, education, vacation and car loans).<\/p>\n
Non-revolving debt saw a big upswing in February, as it increased by more than $10 billion dollars. That was coupled with an $8 billion increase in January. Analysts are pointing to the brisk sales at auto dealerships as one of the primary causes, as Americans are financing their new purchases with auto loans.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, credit card debt shrunk by more than $2 billion in February, suggesting that consumers are being careful with their finances. With the two figures combined, debt increased by 3.8 percent, the biggest swing since June 2008.<\/p>\n