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US bankruptcies rose to record in year that ended with June
Washington, Aug 19: Bankruptcy filings by US consumers soared to a record 1.61 million in the year that ended on June 30, as unemployment touched a nine-year high, court records show.
Washington, Aug 19: Bankruptcy filings by US consumers soared to a record 1.61 million in the year that ended on June 30, as unemployment touched a nine-year high, court records show.
"Consumers have been carrying record levels of debt, and that makes them more susceptible to job losses," said Marianne Culhane, resident scholar at the American Bankruptcy Institute in Arlington, Virginia. "There's genuine distress out there."
The filings represented a 30 per cent increase over 2000, the administrative office of the us courts said in a statement. The total of personal and business filings, 1.65 million, also is a record for any 12-month period. Business appeals for relief from creditors dropped to 37,182 from 39,201 in 2002.
The US economy lost 44,000 jobs in July, a sixth straight decline, the labour department reported earlier this month, and the June unemployment rate of 6.4 per cent was the highest since April 1994. Us households spend about 14 per cent of their earnings on debt payments, according to the US Federal Reserve.
Bureau Report
The filings represented a 30 per cent increase over 2000, the administrative office of the us courts said in a statement. The total of personal and business filings, 1.65 million, also is a record for any 12-month period. Business appeals for relief from creditors dropped to 37,182 from 39,201 in 2002.
The US economy lost 44,000 jobs in July, a sixth straight decline, the labour department reported earlier this month, and the June unemployment rate of 6.4 per cent was the highest since April 1994. Us households spend about 14 per cent of their earnings on debt payments, according to the US Federal Reserve.
Bureau Report