Credit-Spurred Job Growth to Ease Blow of U.S. Cuts: Economy

Easier access to low-cost financing helps businesses grow.

[BLOOMBERG]

Americans are finding it easier to borrow from banks, supporting consumer spending and business investment and helping fuel employment just as U.S. government budget cuts start to take hold.

Data from the Federal Reserve show banks are more willing to lend and their customers are seeking more credit as both groups gain confidence in the economic outlook. That is one reason economists at UBS Securities LLC, who use measures of credit in their employment models, are forecasting payrolls will climb by an average of 200,000 a month in 2013, up from 181,000 last year.

“There’s a continuing loosening of credit standards, and more importantly, demand for credit is up,” said Sam Coffin, an economist for UBS in Stamford, Connecticut, the second-best forecaster of the unemployment rate over the past two years, according to Bloomberg rankings. “All that is good for growth and jobs.”

Read more about how business credit helps job growth at Bloomberg.