Slow and steady…wins the race?

Another quarter, more reports.  For small business, the news is good, though tempered.  The Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index rose this January, year over year, to indicate a small but apparent 4% growth.  As we’ve all come to expect the economy is pushing forward, though it’s more of a trudge than a sprint.

Small business loans are typically a sound indicator of increased hiring on the horizon, because the extra money is often used to pay for more tools or equipment to support new staff.  In much better news, PayNet also found that loan delinquencies are nearing record lows of 1.44% after August 2009’s (the aftermath of the Great Recession) record high of 4.44%.

In more good news, the Guardian Small Business Research Institute projects that women-owned businesses will create 5 million new jobs by 2018, approximately one-third of the 15.3 million total new jobs anticipated by the Department of Labor.  That statistic means that woman business owners are launching new companies at twice the rate of men! Women-owned businesses are closing the gap against their male counterparts in almost every major metric, so expect to see some powerful, women-helmed companies rise to prominence in the next few years.

Are you encouraged or feeling lackluster about the economy’s slow and steady growth?