The New York Federal Reserve Bank said today that consumer borrowing fell slightly in the second quarter, as Americans shed more of their debt, CNNMoney.com reported.

The report – which looks at mortgages, home equity lines, credit cards, auto loans and student debt held by consumers nationwide – found that total consumer debt fell to $11.4 trillion in the second quarter of this year.

That marked a $50 billion drop in total consumer debt from the prior quarter, a decrease so slight that the New York Fed called consumer borrowing “essentially flat.”

Consumer debt remains 8.6 percent below its $12.5 trillion peak at the end of September 2008, just after the collapse of Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. and the seizing of financial markets, CNNMoney.com said.

Total household delinquency rates also continued to improve for the sixth quarter in a row, as overdue balances fell 15 percent from a year ago.