Data shows small business loan approvals at big banks hit new record high

Approval rates for small business loan applications rose to another post-recession record (27.9%) at big banks ($10 billion+ in assets), while approval percentages also stayed above 50% at small banks in September, according to the Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ released recently. Credit unions’ approval rates fell to 39.7% in September, slipping from the 40% mark in August. The figure is a record low for since Biz2Credit began analyzing business loan approval percentages in 2011.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department’s Jobs Report released on Oct. 4, reported that nonfarm payroll employment rose by 136,000 jobs in September, and the unemployment rate hit a 50-year low of 3.5%. Employment in health care and in professional and business services continued to trend upwards, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Small bank approvals of small business loan applications in September remained at 50.3%.

Institutional lenders’ approval rates again rose one-tenth of a percent to 65.9%from August’s figure of 65.8%. Small business loan approval rates among alternative lenders slipped one-tenth of a percent to 56.5% from 56.6% in August.