WASHINGTON — Americans borrowed more in April to attend college and buy cars and were a little less cautious with their credit cards than the previous month.
The Federal Reserve said Friday that consumer borrowing rose $11.1 billion in April from March to a seasonally adjusted $2.82 trillion. That's the 20th straight monthly gain and another record level.
Nearly all of the gain came from a category that includes auto and student loans, which increased $10.4 billion to $1.97 trillion.
A measure of credit card debt rose $682 million to $850 billion. While that's only a modest gain, it follows a decline of $906 million for the category in March.
The credit report doesn't separate auto loans from student loans. But according to quarterly data compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, student loan debt has been the biggest driver of borrowing since the Great Recession ended in June 2009. Student loans reached $986 billion in the first three months of this year. That's up from $675 billion in the second quarter of 2009.
The Federal Reserve's aggressive efforts to lower long-term interest rates have also made auto loans more attractive in recent months.