After a sizable increase in October, consumer credit expanded by
just $1.3 billion, or an annualized rate of 0.7%, in November.
The Federal Reserve reports that nonrevolving credit, like auto
and student loans continued lead the way. Meanwhile, balances of
credit cards and other forms of revolving credit continued to
decline. Why was November's increase so much smaller than the
prior month's rise? The government wasn't as involved.  Here's
the basic chart for how credit has changed since the recession
began:  consumer credit 2010-11.png  Revolving credit (purple
line) continues to decline, now for 27 straight months. It's now
18.2% below its 2008 high. Its annualized 6.3% decline in
November was the smallest decline since June, however. So it's
possible that credit card usage began to rise in November as
holiday shopping began.  Nonrevolving credit (the green line) is
another story. It is beginning to approach its 2008 high of
$1.609 trillion. It reached $1.607 trillion in November, which
was the most since J