The chairman of the Federal Reserve urged banks and regulators on Monday to help the nation's small businesses get the loans they needed to create jobs.
Small businesses — those having fewer than 500 employees — employ half of all Americans and account for about 60 percent of gross job creation, but lending to such companies has declined. Economists disagree on why. Temple economist William Dunkelberg said surveys showed that capital spending was at a 35-year low and that companies were still cutting, not adding, inventory. "Credit's not an issue," he said. "Customers are the issue."