Florida Small Business Borrowing Stalls in August

In August 2017, Florida's small firms borrowed on par with the previous month, according to data released by PayNet. Of the 18 major industries, 9 rose and 9 fell in Florida.

Coming in at 81.7, the PayNet Small Business Lending Index (SBLI) for Florida performed similarly to last month's state level, but was 17.7% beneath this month's national SBLI level (99.3). We can cautiously anticipate improving financial conditions in Florida based on recent stable small business investment.

The three industries with the greatest improvement in lending activity over the past year in Florida were Accommodation and Food Services (13.8%); Construction (11.4%); and Educational Services (10.8%). Nationally, Accommodation and Food Services grew by 5.9% year over year.

The PayNet Small Business Default Index (SBDFI) for Florida ranked 48th nationally at 2.50%. Following a comparable performance to July, Florida's SBDFI was 66 basis points higher than the national SBDFI level of 1.84%. Florida's SBDFI climbed 27 basis points over the last year, while the national SBDFI rose 8.

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