Bank credit, all commercial banks, United States

Bank credit, all commercial banks, is the total of loans, leases and securities held by commercial banks in the United States, including US branches and agencies of foreign banks. The Federal Reserve publishes it weekly in its H.8 release on the assets and liabilities of commercial banks; the series here is the seasonally adjusted monthly average.

It shows how much the banking system is lending and investing in total. Growth in loans points to demand from households and businesses, while growth in securities, mostly Treasury and agency mortgage-backed bonds, shows banks parking deposits rather than lending them. Analysts watch the split between the two as a sign of banks' appetite for risk, and it connects directly to the balance sheets on the bank profiles of this site.

Recent figures are provisional. The H.8 figures are estimates built from a weekly sample of banks and benchmarked to quarterly Call Reports, so recent weeks are revised, sometimes noticeably. And the total can jump for reasons that have nothing to do with lending: a nonbank lender converting to a bank charter, or a large acquisition of a failed bank, moves assets into the series at once. The Federal Reserve notes such breaks in the release, and a single month's change should be read against them.

Bank credit, all commercial banks is at its highest since the series starts in January 2006. Within ten years, bank credit, all commercial banks beats 100% of readings.

Bank credit of all commercial banks in the US, seasonally adjusted, monthly average.

Federal Reserve Board publishes bank credit, all commercial banks monthly in H.8, in USD and is seasonally adjusted. Code: B1001NCBAM. Monthly basis: each month shows the average of the daily values in that month. Method for bank credit, all commercial banks.