Small Business News # 2
New Plans for Small Business Lending
President Obama has announced plans to increase the limit of the Small Business Administration’s express Loans. The current limit for these loans is $350,000; Obama would like to increase this limit to $1 million.
The SBA Express program features “an accelerated turnaround time for SBA review.” Through this program, responses to applications are given within 36 hours.
Unemployment Rate Falls Slightly
Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Employment Situation Summary for January, 2010. This report features employment information, household survey data, establishment survey data, as well as changes to the employment situation text and tables, revisions to establishment survey data and adjustments to population estimates for the household survey.
Key Points
· Unemployment rate fell from 10.0 to 9.7 percent.
· Nonfarm payroll employment was “essentially unchanged.”
· Employment fell in construction, transportation and warehousing.
· Temporary help services and retail trade added jobs.
Is Social Media Affecting your Credit?
According to Miranda Marquit, a blogger for allbusiness.com, credit companies are beginning to look at your social media profiles to determine your credit worthiness. “In their quest to identify creditworthy customers, some are tapping into the information you and your friends reveal in the virtual stratosphere,” wrote Erica Sandberg, for creditcards.com. Read the full stories here and here.
