Small Business Administration loans keep shrinking. But that’s not necessarily bad.

The Obama administration has for the third consecutive year approved a smaller volume of government-backed small-business loans. But that’s not necessarily bad news.

Small Business Administration officials this past year approved federal guarantees supporting $28.6 billion in small-business loans, according to SBA figures. That’s about $1 billion short of last year’s total and down from a peak of $30.5 billion in fiscal 2011.

While the total dollar figure has dropped in each of the past three years, the number of loans approved for guarantees has increased in each of those years. In 2014, nearly 58,000 loan applications were approved, up from 54,106 last year and 53,848 in 2012. So, more small firms are receiving capital even though the amount they’re receiving may have shrunk.