Relying on plastic to make it through tough times: Americans borrowed more money in June than during any other month in nearly four years, relying on credit cards and loans to help get through a difficult economic stretch. The Federal Reserve says consumers increased their borrowing by $15.5 billion in June. That’s the largest one-month gain since August 2007, and it is three times the amount that consumers borrowed in May. The category that measures credit card use increased by $5.2 billion—the most for a single month since March 2008 and only the third gain since the financial crisis. A category that includes auto loans rose by $10.3 billion, the most since February. Total consumer borrowing rose to a seasonally adjusted annual level of $2.45 trillion. That was 2.1% higher than the nearly four-year low of $2.39 trillion hit in September. Borrowing is usually a sign of confidence in the economy; consumers tend to take on more debt when they feel wealthier. But an increase in credit card debt could also signal that people are experiencing harder times.
Numbers down in La.: The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by 12 this week to 1,920. Houston-based drilling product provider Baker Hughes Inc. reported today that 1,031 rigs were exploring for oil and 883 for natural gas. Six were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago this week the rig count stood at 1,605. Louisiana lost three rigs. Of the other major oil- and gas-producing states, Oklahoma gained nine rigs, North Dakota gained five, Texas gained four, New Mexico gained two, and California and Pennsylvania each gained one. Wyoming lost three rigs; Arkansas, Colorado and West Virginia each lost one. Alaska was unchanged. The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. A low of 488 was recorded in 1999.
