According to the ELFA’s Monthly Leasing and Finance Index, overall new business volume in the equipment finance sector was $6.9 billion in August, a 7% decrease from the same time last year.

In addition, volume was down 18% from $8.4 billion in July. However, year-to-date, cumulative new business volume has increased 6% compared to 2014.

Receivables over 30 days were just under 1%, down slightly from the 1.01% reported in the previous month and down from 1.26% in the same period in 2014. Charge-offs were 0.22%, up from 0.19% the previous month.

Credit approvals totaled 79.3% in August, up from 78.6% in July. Total headcount for equipment finance companies was up 7.4% year-over-year.

“The MLFI results continue to indicate strength overall, albeit with inconsistent new volume. Charge-offs and delinquency metrics remain very healthy with slight improvement in approval ratios, possibly indicating a slight easing of credit,” said Jeff Rudin, CEO of Quail Financial. “The significant spike in second-quarter employee movement is likely more indicative of the divestiture of the largest finance company in the world than an overall industry shake up. Overall industry health remains.”

Separately, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s Monthly Confidence Index (MCI-EFI) for September is 61.1, easing from the previous month’s sharp rise of 67.4.