Arizona Small Business Borrowing Stalls

In February 2018, Arizona's small firms borrowed on par with the previous month, according to data published by PayNet. Of the 18 major industries, 8 increased and 9 declined in Arizona.

Registering at 93.3, Arizona's PayNet Small Business Lending Index (SBLI) performed similarly to last month's state level, but was 8.4% lower than this month's national SBLI level (101.9).

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (40.4%); Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction (37.9%); and Finance and Insurance (12.5%) were the three industries with the most favorable performance over the past year in Arizona. As well as having the greatest improvement this month, Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation also recorded the highest lending activity (284.2) of all industries in Arizona.

The PayNet Small Business Default Index (SBDFI) for Arizona registered at 1.99%. Following a comparable value to last month, Arizona's SBDFI was 17 basis points above the national SBDFI level of 1.82%. Over the last year, Arizona's SBDFI climbed 12 basis points, whereas the national SBDFI fell 4.

" We can cautiously anticipate improving financial conditions in Arizona based on recent small business investment," explains William Phelan, president of PayNet.  

Source: PayNet, Inc.