Illinois Small Business Borrowing Up in September, as Are Defaults

​Borrowing by small businesses in Illinois increased and more firms defaulted on existing obligations in September 2017, as revealed by PayNet's latest small business credit trends.

Registering at 113.5, Illinois' PayNet Small Business Lending Index (SBLI) rose 1.2% from last month's state level and was 14.5% greater than this month's national SBLI level (99.1).

Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction (43.3%); Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (17.8%); and Information (14.6%) were the industries with the largest improvement in lending activity over the past year in Illinois. Nationally, Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction grew by 2.9% year over year.

At 1.71%, the PayNet Small Business Default Index (SBDFI) for Illinois was 15 basis points less than the national SBDFI level of 1.86% despite a two basis point rise from the previous month. Illinois' SBDFI rose 10 basis points over the last year, which was a steeper rise than the 7 basis point increase displayed by the national SBDFI.

"Time will tell how these conditions will affect Illinois' economy going forward," explains the president of PayNet, William Phelan.