WASHINGTON (AP) – Consumers kept a watchful eye on their debt and boosted their borrowing at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in December, the Federal Reserve reported Monday.

That represented a $3.1 billion increase in borrowing from November – considerably smaller than the $8 billion over-the-month rise that some economists were forecasting. The increase in borrowing, however, still pushed total consumer credit outstanding to a record $2.1 trillion in December.

The Fed’s report includes credit card debt and loans for such things as boat, cars and mobile homes. It does not include real-estate loans, such as home mortgages or popular home-equity loans.

“I think Americans decided to cool down their swipe-and-sign habits,” said Richard Yamarone, economist at Argus Research Corp.

Consumers, Yamarone said, were somewhat spooked by a jobs market that is still having trouble getting back to full throttle, high energy bills and rising short-term interest rates.

Consumer debt figures for November were substantially revised, according to Monday’s report. Consumers pushed up their borrowing at a 1.1 percent annual rate, or by nearly $2 billion. A month ago, the Fed reported that consumers had sharply cut back their borrowing in November.

The growth in consumer borrowing in both November and December was weak compared to previous months, Yamarone noted.

Demand for revolving credit – mostly credit cards – rose at a 1.4 percent annual rate in December, or by $925 million. That was up from a 0.8 percent growth rate, or an increase of $554 million, for this type of credit in November.

“Consumers kept their charge cards in their wallets until retailers heavily discounted merchandise,” Yamarone said.

Demand for nonrevolving credit, which includes loans for cars, vacations and education, increased at a rate of 2 percent in December, or by $2.2 billion. That compared with 1.3 percent growth rate, or a $1.4 billion increase posted in November.

For all of 2004, consumer credit increased by 4.6 percent, up slightly from 4.5 percent in 2003. Last year’s increase was the largest since a 8 percent rise in 2001.