According to Fed data, the net proportion of U.S. banks that tightened standards on commercial and industrial loans for midsize and large businesses fell to 7.9 percent—the lowest since 2022.
Although U.S. interest rates are sitting at 23-year highs, the pockets of pain they are causing are nothing like the systemic problems that so often wrecked expansions in the past.
Lending conditions were already tightening before the banking crisis in March, and economists anticipate that access to credit will get even more difficult for businesses and households.
Even after Covid risks subside, companies will have to re-orient their hiring for just about every profession, due to slowing growth of the labor force.