California Small Business Borrowing Stalls in May

In May 2017, borrowing remained stagnant in California, data released by PayNet shows. Of the 18 major industries, 11 increased and 7 fell in California.

California's PayNet Small Business Lending Index (SBLI) came in at 96.8, performing comparable to last month's state level, but 1.5% below the national SBLI level of 98.3 this month.

The three industries with the most favorable change in lending activity over the past year in California were Construction (13.8%); Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (13.6%); and Admin & Support and Waste Management & Remediation Services (11.1%). As well as having the second-greatest improvement this month, Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation also recorded the highest lending activity (169.2) of all industries in California.

At 1.66%, PayNet’s Small Business Default Index (SBDFI) for California was 21 basis points less than the national SBDFI level of 1.87% following a similar performance to the previous month. Year-over-year, the national SBDFI climbed 19 basis points, while California's SBDFI rose 17 basis points.

"More definitive trends are needed to gauge the future economic performance for California," asserts William Phelan, president of PayNet