Several signs are pointing toward an unfreezing of the credit market, though bank lending remains slow, the Associated Press reported.

Worldwide sales of corporate debt reached $82 billion last week, the highest level since $103 billion in May 2008 and almost double the amount reached before the credit crisis hit in September, according to Dealogic.

Issuance of commercial paper, which companies sell as a low-cost source of cash to meet short-term financial needs, also rose by $83.1 billion, or nearly 5 percent, to a seasonally adjusted $1.76 trillion in the week ended Jan. 7. It is nearing the $1.82 trillion level reached before Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc.’s failure in September.

With Federal Reserve policy-makers cutting the Fed’s key interest rate to between zero and 0.25 percent, a record low, borrowing costs also have been pushed down. The London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) is around 1.09 percent, the lowest level since June 2003, and the average rate on a 30-year mortgage was 5.01 percent last week, the lowest level since Freddie Mac began tracking data in 1971.

Investors also are becoming more interested in government-backed debt, speculative bonds and high-yield corporate bonds.

Still, bank lending remains slow as financial companies deal with massive losses related to mortgage-related assets and other bad debt.