Bankruptcies up 16% in U.S.

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Bankruptcy filings rose 16 percent during the 12-month period ending March 31, according to the latest data released by the U.S. Judiciary.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts in its summary of the latest case filing figures described the rise as a “similar rate of acceleration” as in the Dec. 31, 2023, quarterly report.

“[B]ut new bankruptcy cases remain significantly lower than before the start of the coronavirus pandemic,” the agency added.

According to the federal judiciary’s data, total filings rose to 467,774 new cases for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2024. The agency had reported a total of 403,273 new cases during the 12-month period ending March 31, 2023.

Business filings increased 40.4 percent, from 14,467 in the March 31, 2023, quarterly report to the 20,316 new business cases during the latest reporting period. Non-business filings rose 15.1 percent, from 388,806 in the March 2023 quarterly report to the 447,458 in the March 2024 report.

“This year’s 12-month filing total for the quarter ending March 31 is nearly three-fifths of the total reported in March 2020, when the pandemic disrupted the U.S. economy,” the agency said. “That year’s 12-month total was 764,282.”