Reuters reported that borrowing by small U.S. businesses rose marginally in December, reporting a small gain for the entire year.

According to the report, the Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index, which measures the overall volume of financing to small U.S. companies, rose to 112 from an upwardly revised 111.1 (initially reported as 108.3) in November. Borrowing was up just 1% from a year earlier.

The report quotes PayNet founder Bill Phelan saying small businesses "haven't come out of their shell." Phelan also stated, “the next two to five months are going to be pretty slow.”

Separate PayNet data showed financial stress at near-record-low levels. Accounts overdue by 30 days fell to 1.20% of the total from 1.21% the previous month. Accounts behind 180 days or more, declined to 0.24% from 0.27%. Accounts behind 90 days or more, or in severe delinquency, fell to 0.26%, from 0.27%.