Lending to small businesses in America is switching into overdrive — in fact, it’s at record post-recession highs, according to new data.

The Biz2Credit index reveals that small business loan applications rose again for the month of May, hitting a record high of 27.7 percent of applications at big banks, versus under 10 percent in the same period in 2011, and jumping to 49.9 percent at small banks in 2019, compared with 42.5 percent in 2011.

But that good news for business is also a mixed blessing, analysts say.

In some of the tightest labor markets in a generation, many small-business owners now say access to bank loans for expansion and growth is no longer a major worry — finding enough qualified workers for openings is the real challenge.

“Business owners are borrowing more to spend on hiring qualified workers,” said Rohit Arora, CEO of Biz2Credit, a business loan facilitator. “As we can see, wages have started to creep up across the economy,” he added.

And while average hourly earnings in the private sector have jumped by 3.2 percent in the past year, some analysts see salaries rising even faster, barring some unforeseen economic slowdown.

Business owners say they are desperate to fill labor gaps — so much so that 1 in 4 small-business owners say hiring qualified workers is their single most important business problem, according to a May jobs report by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

“The small business half of the economy is leading the way,” according to NFIB President and CEO Juanita Duggan, “taking advantage of lower taxes and fewer regulations, and reinvesting in their businesses, their employees, and the economy as a whole.”

With unemployment at 3.6 percent, and labor shortages in some sectors, many businesses are ramping up borrowing from banks willing to lend in this strong economy. And today’s interest rate “spreads” are helping positively drive bank profits compared with the post-recession doldrums.

“Bank approvals of small business loans are as high as they have ever been in the 21st century’s post-recession era,” Arora said. “The economy is strong, which bodes well for small businesses searching for capital.”

Not surprisingly, desperate employers are reaching into their HR toolbox to lure workers. A survey by Condesco Software shows that 43 percent of US businesses expect to allow more remote working in the coming year.

But Biz2Credit’s Arora said companies are out to offer the best candidates the proven old-fashioned incentive: more money.

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“That is encouraging some of the increase bank borrowing we are now seeing,” he said.