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Credit scores improved as credit card debt increased for many consumers in November, according to a report released today by Credit Karma Inc., a San Francisco-based company whose Web site tracks credit scores. The average consumer had $7,879 in credit card debt last month, up 4% from $7,573 in October, according to Credit Karma. "For the second straight month, consumers have increased their credit card spending after spending much of the year paying down debt," Credit Karma CEO Ken Lin says of the report's findings. "We anticipate this trend will continue through December due to holiday shopping, and hopefully will notice consumers paying down credit card debt again in 2010." Nationally, 40% of consumer credit scores increased last month, compared with 40% that did in October and 39% that did in September, according to data from approximately 79,000 Credit Karma user scores. Despite the high percentage of increasing scores, the average credit score of 671 still is down one point from two months earlier and down five points since the start of the year. The increased debt is only in the credit card category. Overall, total consumer debt is down when factoring in mortgage, auto debt, and student loans from October to November.
