BUSINESS BRIEFING / CREDIT

Borrowing by consumers fell by $15.7 billion in April as U.S. households continued to trim spending and put away their credit cards amid a severe recession.

The Federal Reserve said the April decline was the second largest ever in dollars after March’s drop of $16.6 billion. March’s decline originally was reported as $11.1 billion, which had been the most on records dating to 1943.

The April decline was more than double the $6-billion drop that economists had expected. Analysts believe consumers will remain cautious as long as the jobless rate keeps rising, which it did again in May.