Want still more evidence that the economy is squeezing small businesses? Unfortunately, the Small Business Administration is able to supply it. It seems that, compared to last year, the SBA is making significantly fewer loans.
There have been 29 and 27 percent fewer 7(a) loans classified as "express" and "rural," respectively. Veterans are also having a tough time, with SBA loans to them dropping by 20 percent.
On the whole, the number of 7(a) loans is down 18 percent since last year. Jeremy Quittner writes, "According to the Federal Reserve's most recent Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices, for April, 2008, 55% of domestic banks reported tightening credit standards for commercial and industrial loans, compared to 30% in January, 2008."
It seems that some people - and this hopefully includes you - have saved up enough money so that they're not asking for loans. Others are being turned away, though, which may be leading to the bankruptcies we've discussed before.
David Utter wrote about more small business loan trends earlier this week.
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Comments
Credit crunch
This is a very interesting data point. We may be at the beginning of a credit crunch for both small and large businesses, however it hasn't really hit in full force yet (which is probably why the stock market hasn't totally crashed yet). I will be keeping my eyes pealed for more data like this. Good article.
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