The amount Americans owe on credit cards and other consumer loans plunged a record $21.6 billion in July, clouding prospects that the budding economic recovery soon would extend to Main Street.

The drop in consumer debt for the month was the largest since the Federal Reserve began tracking the data in 1943 and the sixth straight monthly decline in outstanding consumer debt, the longest streak since 1991.

The amount of the decrease — five times what analysts had predicted — along with continued job losses and an uncertain housing market show that consumers are still too skittish about borrowing money for big-ticket purchases, even though economic data show signs that the deep recession technically might have ended.

"The consumer is hunkered down in the process of repairing his finances," said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's http://www.Economy.com in West Chester, Pa.

Unemployment that's projected to reach 10 percent by early next year and a decline in household wealth are casting doubt on the strength of the recovery from the worst economic slump since the 1930s. Federal Reserve policy makers, at their August meeting, expressed "uncertainty" about the projected pace of gains in household spending.

Nonrevolving debt, including loans for automobiles and mobile homes, plunged by $15.4 billion in July. The Fed's report doesn't cover borrowing secured by real estate. Revolving debt, such as credit cards, fell by $6.1 billion.