Taking the credit: U.S. banks are reporting that companies are tapping more of their credit lines to fund hiring and expand their businesses, a promising sign for the economy. Commercial borrowers are using two or three percentage points more of their credit lines than they were a year ago, reaching levels not seen since before the financial crisis was at its height in 2009, senior officials at a number of major banks told Reuters in interviews and on conference calls this week. Companies are using the funds for a variety of things, from boosting manufacturing capacity to investing in new businesses and building inventory as customer demand increases. Read the full story.
Pumped up: Rising gas prices in March led to a slight increase in inflation, which The Associated Press reports is a sign that some of the broader economic impact from cheaper oil is fading. The consumer price index rose 0.2% in March, the Labor Department announced this morning. Inflation moved at that same pace in February, which ended three straight monthly declines caused largely by falling oil and gasoline prices. Average prices at the pump rose 3.9% in March, contributing along with other sectors to a small dose of inflation. Primarily because of less expensive gas, consumer prices dipped 0.1% in the 12 months ended in March, meaning that more Americans have been able to conserve their spending. Read the full story.
In one pocket and out the other: Close to one in three U.S. households earning more than $75,000 a year live paycheck to paycheck at least some of the time, according to a new survey released by SunTrust Bank. More than one in four households earning more than $100,000 a year said the same. The study shows that even households with middle-class earnings can struggle to save. When it came to retirement savings, 43% say they’re not saving enough or aren’t sure if they’re on track to have a large enough nest egg. Granted, some of those low saving rates are due to poor spending habits. Of those who said they weren’t saving as much as they could, 44% said it was because they were spending too much money on leisure. For millennials, that jumped up to 71%. Read the full story.
