How to Read the Fed's Senior Loan Officer Survey (SLOOS) — Net Percentages, Standards and Demand

As of 24 October 2026 (KST); latest release: the July 2026 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices (SLOOS), published by the Federal Reserve Board on August 3, 2026, covering changes over roughly the second quarter of 2026. The Fed does not post a date for the next release on these pages; it says results are timed for the October/November FOMC meeting and are generally published on the first Monday after FOMC meetings. Primary sources: https://www.federalreserve.gov/data/sloos/sloos-202607.htm and https://www.federalreserve.gov/data/sloos/sloos-202607-chart-data.htm^[1][3][4]

Comparison basis: values are net percentages of domestic respondents from the chart data published with the July 2026 survey, where the latest row is labeled 2026:3 and the April 2026 and July 2025 surveys are labeled 2026:2 and 2025:3 (the labels match the survey wording; for example 0.0 and 1.8 for C&I standards correspond to "basically unchanged"). Values are published to one decimal and are not rounded further here; changes are this page's calculations in percentage points. For standards, positive means net tightening; for demand, positive means net stronger demand. All four documents are Federal Reserve Board publications and count as one issuer record.^[1][2]

In three lines 1. The SLOOS asks senior loan officers whether their banks tightened or eased lending standards and saw stronger or weaker loan demand over the past three months; answers are summarized as net percentages. 2. In the July 2026 survey, C&I standards were basically unchanged (net 0.0 for large and middle-market firms), C&I demand from those firms strengthened (net 16.1), CRE standards eased and credit card standards tightened (net 6.7). 3. The survey is timed for FOMC meetings; the next standard survey is timed for the October/November meeting.^[1][2]

Standards and terms. For questions on standards or terms, the net percentage "refers to the fraction of banks that reported having tightened ("tightened considerably" or “tightened somewhat") minus the fraction of banks that reported having eased ("eased considerably" or "eased somewhat")."^[1]

Demand. "For questions that ask about loan demand, this term refers to the fraction of banks that reported stronger demand ("substantially stronger" or "moderately stronger") minus the fraction of banks that reported weaker demand ("substantially weaker" or "moderately weaker")."^[1]

The words in the summary are number bands. A response is "basically unchanged" when "the net percentage of respondent banks that reported either tighter or easier standards or terms, or stronger or weaker demand, is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 5 percent"; and "modest" refers to net percentages greater than 5 and less than or equal to 10 percent; "moderate" refers to net percentages greater than 10 and less than or equal to 20 percent; "significant" refers to net percentages greater than 20 and less than 50 percent; and "major" refers to net percentages greater than or equal to 50 percent. This page's explanation: because the first band covers banks reporting either tighter or easier standards, the strength words apply to the size of the net percentage, while its sign gives the direction; a negative value means net easing (or, for demand, net weaker demand). For example, -11.3 for nonfarm nonresidential CRE standards is a moderate easing and -5.7 for multifamily is a modest easing.^[1]

Standards vs terms. "Thus, standards reflect the extensive margin of lending, while terms reflect the intensive margin of lending."^[1]

Who answers. "Responses were received from 56 domestic banks and 18 U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks. Respondent banks received the survey on June 17, 2026, and responses were due by July 2, 2026." "Unless otherwise indicated, this summary refers to the responses of domestic banks." The Fed describes the questions as generally qualitative: "The questions on the FR 2018 survey are generally qualitative."^[1][4]

Standards vs demand for business loans. "Regarding loans to businesses over the second quarter, survey respondents reported, on balance, basically unchanged standards for commercial and industrial (C&I) loans to firms of all sizes." "Meanwhile, banks reported stronger demand for C&I loans from large and middle-market firms and basically unchanged demand for C&I loans from small firms on net." In the chart data, standards for large and middle-market firms were net 0.0 while demand was net 16.1. Foreign banks reported differently: "Meanwhile, a modest net share of foreign banks reported having tightened standards for C&I loans over the second quarter." and "In addition, a moderate net share of foreign banks reported tighter standards on CRE loans."^[1][2]

Standards vs terms. Standards for C&I loans barely changed, but terms eased: "Significant and moderate net shares of banks reported charging narrower loan rate spreads to large and middle-market firms and to small firms, respectively" (net -26.8 and -14.5 for increasing spreads). Among banks that eased, "a major net share cited more aggressive competition from other banks or nonbanks as an important reason for doing so".^[1][2]

Business vs household credit. "Furthermore, banks generally reported easier standards and basically unchanged demand for commercial real estate (CRE) loans." For households, "In addition, standards tightened for credit card loans, with demand remaining basically unchanged." "Standards remained basically unchanged for auto and other consumer loans, while demand weakened for auto loans and remained unchanged for other consumer loans."^[1][2]

Change vs level. The quarterly questions ask about changes; the July special questions ask about levels: "Banks reported that, on balance, the levels of standards are currently at the tighter end of the range for all loan categories except C&I loans, for which standards are generally easier than their midpoints." For loans to non-depository financial institutions, "Banks reported, on balance, that the levels of standards for all queried types of NDFI loans—including loans to mortgage credit intermediaries, business credit intermediaries, private equity funds, consumer credit intermediaries, and other NDFIs—are at the tighter ends of their historical ranges."^[1]

This survey vs a year earlier. C&I demand from large and middle-market firms swung from net -28.6 in the July 2025 survey to net 16.1, a change of 44.7 percentage points, while nonfarm nonresidential CRE standards moved from net tightening of 11.5 to net easing of 11.3 (this page's calculation).^[2]

Words vs numbers. The summary's "Over the second quarter, moderate and modest net shares of banks reported having eased standards for loans secured by nonfarm nonresidential (NFNR) properties and multifamily properties, respectively, while standards for construction and land development (CLD) loans remained basically unchanged on net." matches the chart data: -11.3 (moderate), -5.7 (modest) and -3.7 (basically unchanged). Credit card standards at net 6.7 are a "modest" tightening.^[1][2]

Mortgages: weaker demand, mixed standards. "Meanwhile, banks reported weaker demand, on balance, across RRE loan categories over the second quarter." All residential mortgage demand series reported for the latest survey are negative, from -8.0 to -18.2 (including subprime at -18.2 and GSE-eligible at -11.8; the older all, prime and nontraditional series show n.a.), while standards range from net easing of 9.8 for QM jumbo loans to net tightening of 9.1 for subprime.^[1][2]

Firm size definitions. "Large and middle-market firms are defined as firms with annual sales of $50 million or more, and small firms are those with annual sales of less than $50 million."^[1]

Historical range questions. For the special questions, "respondents were asked to consider the range over which their lending standards have varied since 2005 and to report where the current level of standards is relative to the midpoint of that range." These answers describe levels relative to a bank's own history, not changes over the quarter.^[1]

Schedule. "The Federal Reserve generally conducts the survey quarterly, timing it so that results are available for the January/February, April/May, August, and October/November meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee." The panel: "Survey of up to eighty large domestic banks and twenty-four U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks."^[3]

Publication. "The aggregated survey results are available in a public release, which is made available on the Board's website, generally on the first Monday following FOMC meetings for the standard quarterly surveys." "Information from the survey is reported regularly to the Board and to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) as an official memorandum to FOMC participants and in other internal briefing materials." "Survey submissions under the FR 2018 are voluntary."^[4]