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Bankruptcy Filings Remain High
by Jon Greenberg on
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The April numbers from the US Bankruptcy Court show 470 new filings. That's basically unchanged since from March when 473 filings were made. A year ago April, the number was 308. A year before that, it was 237.
Of the April filings, most were non-business, 417, leaving about 53 business bankruptcies. This is the soft underbelly of the economy and counterbalances the recent touches of quasi-good news such as a nudge up in retail spending among discount stores. But it's important to look at the longer term picture. The high water mark of bankruptcies was 564. That was in March of 2005 when most people felt that the economy was doing just great.
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With hundreds of thousands of jobless people about to run out of all benefits, congress has moved to extend unemployment benefits by 14 weeks nationwide for those whose relief has run out, and up to 20 weeks in states — 26 currently — where the unemployment rate is over 8.5 percent.
For the moment, the extra 14 weeks is the number that applies in NH.
The legislation also continues the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers for another five months. It creates a new $6,500 tax credit for certain homeowners who want to buy another home.
At a recent talk to the Business and Professional Women organization I focused on two related issues: If this recession was our Katrina, how much damage did it inflict on the economic infrastructure? One thing we don't know is when credit markets will recover.
So it was with some interest that I read this article in the Washington Post. I think it captures our current economic situation, nationally, and points our eyes in the right direction as we look for signs of true recovery.
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