Credit and leverage
US Commercial and Industrial Loans
Seasonally adjusted commercial and industrial loans on the books of US commercial banks. It captures corporate borrowing demand and bank lending standards together, a read on credit supply to the real economy.
US Commercial and Industrial Loans latest observations
- Observed
- 2026-09-01
- Latest
- 2,959 bn USD
- Change from previous
- ▲ +24.62 bn USD
Check the observation dates in both the summary and chart; release and refresh times can differ.
At a glance
US Commercial and Industrial Loans: latest value and prior change
As of 2026-09-01, US Commercial and Industrial Loans is 2,959 bn USD. It is 24.62 bn USD higher than 2,934 bn USD on 2026-08-01.
Across 681 available observations from 1970-01-01 to 2026-09-01, the latest value is at the tie-adjusted 100th percentile.
- Observed on
- Default comparison window
- 1970-01-01–2026-09-01
- Observations · observed cadence
- 681 · Monthly
- Data source
- FRED
A high or low percentile does not by itself make the indicator positive, negative, or a buy or sell signal.
2021-10-01 → 2026-09-01 · bn USD
- First
- 2,421 bn USD
- 2021-10-01
- Latest
- 2,959 bn USD
- 2026-09-01
- Window low
- 2,421 bn USD
- 2021-10-01
- Window high
- 2,959 bn USD
- 2026-09-01
The horizontal axis follows observation order; calendar intervals may differ. High and low refer to observed values within this window, not intraday or all-time extremes. Ties show the first observation date.
Time-series chart
US Commercial and Industrial Loans
1970-01-01–2026-09-01
Long-history series are stored as real provider observations. Index, FX, VIX, and ratio charts use historical backfill where providers expose it; Korean investor flow and margin-credit feeds expand as stable historical endpoints become available.
Recent observations and calculated changes
The ten latest chart observations. Change subtracts the previous observation; intervals vary with holidays, release schedules and missing data. A difference in rates or ratios is not an investment return.
| Observed | Value | Previous date | Difference (current − previous) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-01 | 2,959 bn USD | 2026-08-01 | 24.62 bn USD |
| 2026-08-01 | 2,934 bn USD | 2026-07-01 | 46.29 bn USD |
| 2026-07-01 | 2,888 bn USD | 2026-06-01 | -9.44 bn USD |
| 2026-06-01 | 2,898 bn USD | 2026-05-01 | 11.85 bn USD |
| 2026-05-01 | 2,886 bn USD | 2026-04-01 | 30.31 bn USD |
| 2026-04-01 | 2,855 bn USD | 2026-03-01 | 35.84 bn USD |
| 2026-03-01 | 2,820 bn USD | 2026-02-01 | 37.01 bn USD |
| 2026-02-01 | 2,783 bn USD | 2026-01-01 | 46.63 bn USD |
| 2026-01-01 | 2,736 bn USD | 2025-12-01 | 27.41 bn USD |
| 2025-12-01 | 2,709 bn USD | 2025-11-01 | 7.71 bn USD |
Source: FRED
Interpretation guide
US C&I Loans: checking whether the bank credit window is open
US Commercial and Industrial loans, from the Federal Reserve's H.8 bank balance-sheet release, measure the seasonally adjusted stock of business lending at US commercial banks in billions of dollars. Where corporate bond spreads price the credit environment, this series shows the actual volume of money flowing from bank windows to firms.
A blend of supply and demand
Changes in C&I balances mix banks' willingness to lend with firms' appetite to borrow. Distinguishing whether growth reflects expanding investment or emergency credit-line drawdowns is essential context.
- Moderate balance growth in an expansion signals healthy investment and working-capital demand.
- A stress-driven spike — as in March 2020 — can reflect firms preemptively drawing credit lines, which is a warning rather than strength.
- Persistent declines point to tighter bank lending standards, weaker corporate investment appetite, or both.
Where it sits in the cycle
C&I lending is a distinctly lagging series: balances have repeatedly kept rising after recessions began, rolling over only later. That makes it better for confirming which credit-cycle phase you are in than for catching turning points.
- Viewing the series in YoY terms exposes cyclical shifts hidden by the long upward drift in levels.
- Episodes of negative YoY growth have frequently overlapped with broader credit contractions.
- The Fed's SLOOS lending-standards survey typically tightens first, with loan growth slowing afterward — keep that sequence in mind.
What to pair it with
Bank credit and market credit are complements. When bank lending tightens and corporate spreads widen at the same time, both funding doors are narrowing — and the real-economy impact compounds.
- Pair it with US High Yield OAS on TapeFlow to check whether bank and market credit are contracting together.
- Shrinking loans alongside rising US Initial Claims argues for stress-testing a credit-driven employment slowdown.
- A US credit squeeze can spread through global banks' risk appetite, indirectly affecting Korean corporates' dollar funding conditions.