(Reuters) – Bank credit for U.S. commercial banks expanded slightly in the last week of June, even as commercial and industrial lending ticked down, Federal Reserve data released on Friday showed.
Bank credit rose to $17.31 trillion in the week ending June 28, from $17.29 trillion a week earlier, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.
On a seasonally adjusted basis credit contracted slightly, but in both data series bank credit ended the month up compared with the first week of June.
Commercial and industrial lending, an indication of activity among small and medium-sized businesses, cooled to $2.77 trillion, from $2.78 trillion.
Trends in bank loans are a gauge of economic momentum, and year-over-year growth has slowed sharply since last year as the Fed raised interest rates and credit has tightened.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir and Dan Burns; Editing by Chris Reese)
