U.S. companies borrowed 8% less to finance equipment investments in October compared to a year ago, according to the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA). Some businesses felt the impact of high interest rates. ELFA reports on the economic activity for the nearly $1-trillion equipment finance sector and surveys banks like Bank of America and financing affiliates of equipment makers.

Despite a set of sound metrics in the U.S. economy, participants reported slight increases in both losses and delinquencies, said Ralph Petta, CEO of ELFA. This softness in credit quality is indicative of the challenges experienced by some businesses as they operate in a higher interest rate environment, constrained in some sectors, at least, by reports of a pull-back in bank lending.

Dennis Bolton, Head of North America Equipment Finance at Gordon Brothers, said that the trends are consistent with the economic environment and market turmoil resulting from quantitative tightening, inflation, employment, and supply chain disruption.

U.S. companies signed up for $10.4 billion worth of new loans, leases and lines of credit in October, up from $9.7 billion a month ago, ELFA said. Credit approvals also improved month-on-month, touching 76% in October, up from 73.6% in September. The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s non-profit affiliate said its confidence index stood at 42.8 in November an increase from 40