US loans climb by $19.3b in December

WASHINGTON - US residents borrowed more than expected in December amid an increasing demand for auto and student loans.

The amount of credit increased by $19.3 billion to reach $2.5 trillion, Federal Reserve figures showed on Wednesday in Washington. The increase exceeded the median forecast of $7 billion that was made by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and followed a $20.4 billion advance in the previous month.

US residents "are willing to take on this debt because there is some increasing degree of confidence in the economy", said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics LLC in Pepper Pike, Ohio, who projected the amount of credit would climb by $15 billion, the highest in the Bloomberg survey.