Small Business Lending Index
The PayNet Small Business Lending Index is an economic indicator from PayNet Inc, An Equifax Company. Because small businesses generally respond to changes in economic conditions more rapidly than larger businesses do, the PayNet Small Business Lending Index serves as a leading indicator of the economy.
The index, utilizing small business loan origination data from major lenders, measures the volume of loans to Small Businesses normalized to a base year - 2005. Seasonally adjusted, the index is presented as an absolute as well as by a percent change versus the prior year.
It is published monthly as follows:
| PRELIMINARY data for current value reflecting most recent small business lending activity released | REVISED data for month preceding Preliminary released | FINAL data for month preceding Revised released |
The index has its highest correlation with GDP change as a leading indicator, leading between 2 and 5 months in advance. The index undergoes periodic checks to examine the accuracy of the estimates over time.
Methodology
All data is collected by PayNet, Inc. PayNet collects real-time loan information from more than 400 leading U.S. lenders. Its proprietary database encompasses over 27 million current and historic contracts worth over $1.7 trillion.PayNet primarily collects data from small business lenders in the United States, conducts research and analysis, develops and implements estimation methodologies and disseminates statistics to customers. Because PayNet receives its source data over time, estimates are routinely revised to reflect more complete source data. Preliminary and Revised estimates are reported as calculated without any reference to previously reported estimates for the same month. In addition, PayNet undertakes periodic studies that examine the accuracy of the estimates over time and for the existence of any systemic overstatement or understatement.