Consumers and businesses are cautious about borrowing

A monthly index that monitors credit conditions nationwide showed incremental improvement in May, reflecting the sluggish economy and cautious consumer spending.

The credit managers index from the National Association of Credit Management reported a reading of 54.1 in May, up from 53.9 in April. However, the association said the index posted scores around 56 most of last year.

“The word of the day seems to be incremental,” said Chris Kuehl, the Kansas City economist for the credit management association.

“There are still signs of growth and some stability.” But “the problem is that there was an expectation of more this time.”

Kuehl said some of the components in the index suggest “that there remains a lot of caution among consumers and businesses alike” about the overall economy.

The Star

This story was originally published May 29, 2015 at 9:53 AM with the headline "Consumers and businesses are cautious about borrowing."