Consumers Upped Their Borrowing in March

WASHINGTON — U.S. consumers swiped their credit cards more often in March and took out more loans to attend school, driving overall borrowing up by the most in more than a decade.

Total consumer borrowing rose $21.4 billion in March, the Federal Reserve said Monday. That’s the seventh straight monthly increase and the largest since November 2001.

A measure of auto and student loans increased by $16.2 billion. A separate gauge of mostly credit card debt rose $5.2 billion after declining in January and February.

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