MADISON, Wis. — Lending grew at the nation's credit unions by a slight 0.4% in May, the second straight positive month for credit unionloan growth, after declining lending for the previous seven consecutive months, according to CUNA.
“Loans are still very weak but have moved in the right direction for two months in a row,†said Bill Hampel, chief economist for CUNA.
Still, loan growth is down almost 0.7% for the first five months of 2011, after declining almost 1.4% last year. Hampel said he believes loan demand has turned the corner and will start picking up, with CUNA projecting positive loan growth for the year of around 2%.
Share growth also remains tepid, down 0.7% in May, pushing year-to-date share growth down to 3.25%, compared to 3.70% for the first five months last year and 7.99% for the same period in 2009.
