Passage 2Consumers went back to

Passage 2

Consumers went back to usingtheir credit cards in March to keep spending while student and new-car loansshot up as the value of outstanding consumer credit jumped at the fastest ratesince late 2001, data from the Federal Reserve showed on Monday.

Total consumer credit grew by$21.36 billion-more than twice the $9.8 billion rise that Wall Streeteconomists surveyed by Reuters had forecast. That followed a revised $9.27billion increase in outstanding credit in February.

Analysts expressed somereservations whether the date reliably signaled a real pickup in demand,something that would normally fuel stronger growth, or just a need to rely moreon credit in an economy generating anemic job growth.

"The optimistic read isthat consumers' improved outlook on the economy and employment prospects ledthem to feel comfortable spending on credit, while a more downbeatinterpretation is that credit is needed for consumers to keep up, Nomura GlobalEconomics said in a note afterward.

The March rise in consumercredit was the strongest for any month since November 2001 when it soared by$28billion. That was shortly after the September11,2001 attacks when bigautomakers were offering zero-percent financing and other incentives to lureconsumers back to their showrooms.

New-car sales and productionwere a key influence on the 2.2 percent annual rate of economic growth postedduring the first three months this year. The government estimated that abouthalf of that growth came from increased new car production.

 
According to the article, does the increase in consumer credit mean that the economy is improving?
A、Not necessarily
B、Yes
C、No
D、Just the opposite
【正确答案】：A
【名师解析】:根据文章内容，消费者信贷的增长并不一定意味着经济正在改善。文章中提到，尽管消费者信贷在3月份大幅上升，但分析师们对于这一数据是否真正表明了需求的实质性增长持保留态度。Nomura Global Economics的分析指出，乐观的解读是消费者对经济和就业前景的改善预期使他们愿意使用信贷消费，而悲观的解读是消费者需要信贷来维持消费水平，这可能反映出经济增长乏力。因此，增加的消费者信贷并不必然意味着经济正在改善，所以正确答案是选项A：Not necessarily。