Consumers Raise Their Debt Burden In December

Americans increased their borrowing for the third month in a row, raising the total consumer debt to more than $2.4 trillion during December.

The increase was primarily due to an unpredicted increase in the volume of credit card payments purchases. This marked the first increase in this category in more than two years.

"Consumers hit the stores during this holiday season and rang the cash registers in a big way and some of these purchases were probably made with credit cards," Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank ofTokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., told Bloomberg.

Overall, credit rose by $6.1 billion for the month, according to recently released data from the Federal Reserve Board. Economists had predicted a $2.4 billion increase in both credit card debt and non-revolving loans.

Despite the increased strain this will cause many consumers, a number of large companies including Gap Inc. and General Motors are expected to post higher earnings as a result, the report said. The increase also coincides with recent reports from major credit card lenders, all of which reported upticks in credit card use for the month.