US companies using more of their credit lines to hire and expand

New York

US banks are reporting that companies are tapping more of their credit lines to fund hiring and expand their businesses, a promising sign for the economy.

Commercial borrowers are using two or three percentage points more of their credit lines than they were a year ago, reaching levels not seen since the financial crisis was at its height in 2009, senior officials at a number of major banks said in interviews and on conference calls this week.

Companies are using the funds for a variety of things, from boosting manufacturing capacity to investing in new businesses and building inventory as customer demand increases. "Confidence is back," said Laura Oberst, an executive vice-president at Wells Fargo & Co who oversees commercial banking for the central US region. "It's fragile still, but stronger than I've seen it since the meltdown of 2008." A Wells Fargo spokeswoman could not immediately provide a bank-wide utilisation rate for commercial and industrial borrowers, but said that it has gone …