Commercial Lending Showing Signs of Life

New York, October 22--A survery of midsize banks by the Wall Street Journal revealed that commercial borrowing is starting to rebound. KeyCorp reported a 14% increase in commercial loan balances in the current third quarter over the second quarter of this year according to the Journal. The most recent U.S. commercial- and industrial-loan total is down about 0.6% compared with a year earlier -- better than the decrease of 7% from early January 2003 and the same period in 2004, the Journal said.