We learn from Reuters that lending to small business in the United States barely grew in February. The news came from the Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index, which measures the overall volume of financing to U.S. small businesses. The index edged up to 98.3 in February from 98.2 a month earlier. According to PayNet, because small businesses generally respond to changes in economic conditions more rapidly than larger businesses do, the SBLI serves as a leading indicator of the economy. PayNet founder Bill Phelan told reporters the company sees this faltering as a sign that there’s caution on the part of small business owners.
(Image Credit: Peter Church via Wikimedia Commons)
![Peter Church [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://www.manufacturedhomepronews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Caravan_sales_Hutton_Cranswick-150x100.jpg "Peter Church [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons")
