According to the Commercial Finance Association (CFA), businesses in the U.S. are growing, as reflected in increased borrowing during the second quarter of the year. According to the CFAs latest Quarterly Asset-Based Lending (ABL) Index, U.S. ABL loan commitments have risen by more than 7% year-over-year. The CFA said this data indicates increased optimism in the economy.

Increases in asset-based lending are a good economic indicator because these loans are directly linked to the underlying collateral such as invoices and inventory, said Robert Trojan, chief executive officer of the CFA. Increased inventory and invoices suggest a speeding up of the working cash cycle that drives business growth.

According to the CFAs ABL Index for Q2/15, total ABL loan commitments in Q2/15 rose 7.2%, compared to the same quarter in 2014. In addition, new ABL credit commitments were 6.3% higher than the same period a year ago a significant indicator of growth. There has been a 9% increase in new commitments in the past quarter alone.