U.S. small-business borrowing up in December: PayNet

[February 03, 2015]  (Reuters) - U.S. small businesses took out more loans in December, according to data released on Tuesday, with companies in consumer-dependent industries like transportation, food and accommodation driving the increase.

The Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index rose to 129.8, the third-highest level on record, and compares to an upwardly revised November reading of 117.6. The index was set at 100 at its January 2005 launch, and peaked two years later at 131.7 before plummeting to about half that level around the time of the Great Recession. The index set a new record of 132 in October 2014, the revised figures show.

"It's a domestic consumer story," PayNet founder Bill Phelan said, noting that a decline in oil prices helped fuel the renewed borrowing.

Companies in the transportation business increased borrowing by 27 percent in December, he said, and borrowing by companies in food and accommodation rose 13 percent. That compares with overall year-on-year borrowing growth of 10 percent.

Meanwhile, small companies in oil patch areas like North Dakota pulled back on borrowing.

Loan delinquencies ticked down to 1.54 percent, separate PayNet data showed, a sign that despite an overall increase in borrowing in 2014, businesses are for the most part repaying what they owe.

PayNet collects real-time loan information such as originations and delinquencies from more than 250 leading U.S. lenders.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.