Signs pointing up for small business lending

1/6/2012

SurePayroll's December Scorecard revealed that optimism among small businesses is rising.

Specifically, last month's small business optimism score was 63 percent - a 10 percent increase from the previous two months and a 30 percent increase from September.

"We saw caution in 2011, but the leading indicators suggest 2012 looks positive," said SurePayroll CEO and president Michael Alter. "The sun is on the horizon. Optimism is higher, 50 percent plan to hire and wages look to go up."

The results are a reflection on the overall small business lending landscape. According to the Thompson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index, small business borrowing rose 10.2 points to 106.4 in November - an 18 percent increase year-over-year and the highest score since February 2008, Reuters reports. The index measures the overall volume of financing to small businesses.

This is good news for small business owners, as 21 percent of respondents to the SurePayroll report plan to pursue lending to fund their growth initiatives. In addition, 50 percent said they plan to hire additional workers in 2012, 56 percent intend to increase wages while just 2 percent said they project wage reductions.