Consumer borrowing down $18.3B in May

U.S. consumers reduced their borrowing for a third straight month in May as the millions of jobs lost because of the coronavirus pandemic made households less eager to take on new debt.

Consumer borrowing declined by $18.3 billion in May, a drop of 5.3%. Borrowing had fallen 4.5% in March and then plunged 20.1% in April. That was the biggest one-month decline in percentage terms since the end of World War II.

Borrowing by consumers in the category that covers credit card debt fell $24.3 billion in May following April’s record $58.2 billion decline. Borrowing in the category that covers auto loans and student debt rose $6 billion, reversing part of a $12 billion