Business owners sough and obtained new credit while delinquency remained in check
Apr 2026
- Index Value (Mar):52.2
- Previous Month:49.2
- MoM:+3.0
- YoY:+9.0 (Apr 2025 = 43.2)
The Experian Small Business Index™ increased by 3 points to 52.2 in April and was up 9 points year-over-year.
The index was boosted in April by several positive consumer credit trends among business owners. Consumers sought and obtained new credit in April while their utilization and delinquency rates were down. These positive trends helped to mitigate some signs of weakness in their commercial credit, where utilization was up and the number of emerging businesses decreased slightly.
In the broader economy, inflation continued to rise in April to 3.8% from 3.3% in March. Energy prices were a significant contributor, increasing 17.9% from a year ago. Core inflation increased more modestly from 2.6% in March to 2.8% in April. Unemployment remained flat at 4.3% and the U.S. economy added 115K jobs in April, down 70K from March. These labor market and inflation trends coincided with the Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain interest rates at the end of April.
New businesses continue to form at a strong rate with 503K new businesses launched in April, up from 493K in March, continuing the trend observed since the end of the Covid pandemic. Small Business optimism also increased slightly, to 95.9 in April from 95.8 in March.
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Experian Small Business Index saw rising utilization and 91+ day past-due rates, which contributed to the monthly decline.
The Experian Small Business Index declined by 0.7 in June, but remains well above last years level on strong small business sentiment.
Small businesses navigated headwinds in May as uncertainty began to rise May 2026 Index Value (Mar): 51.2 Previous Month: 52.2 MoM: -1.0 YoY: +6.0 (May 2025 = 57.2) The Experian Small Business Index™ decreased slightly, falling 1 point to 51.2 in May, but remained 6 points higher than a year ago. Several credit risk factors supported the index in May. Past-due balances on business owners’ consumer accounts declined, as did later-stage delinquencies on their commercial accounts. However, several factors weighed on the index. Commercial credit utilization increased, and there was a sharp rise in consumer public records filings. While public records are typically a lagging indicator, this trend warrants monitoring in the coming months. In the broader economy, the unemployment rate declined to 4.2% from 4.3%, and GDP grew by 2.1%, exceeding expectations. Several measures of inflation also increased in May. Headline inflation rose from 3.8% in April to 4.2%, while core inflation, which excludes food and energy, increased from 2.8% to 2.9%. Energy prices were 23.5% higher than a year earlier and likely contributed to broader inflationary pressures. Food prices declined 0.1%, while rent increased 0.1%. Business formation remained strong, with 524,000 new business applications filed in May, up from 505,000 in April. This occurred despite the NFIB Uncertainty Index increasing to 91. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index edged down to 95.3 in May from 95.9 in April. Explore Experian Small Business Index Related Posts
