Tag Archives: bankruptcy filing statistics

3% Drop in Bankruptcies reported January 5, 2011 – Seattle Times

December 2010 bankruptcy filings decreased 3% nationally as compared to December 2009, with 113,000 bankruptcy filings in Dec. 2010.

There are about 90 bankruptcy districts in the nation.

There was a similar decrease in filings October 2009 to October 2010.

The nation recorded about 1.55 million bankruptcy filings in 2010, an increase of 8.0% from 2009.

There was an increase of 32% from 2008 to 2009, and a 33% increase from 2007 to 2008.

The number of filings in 2010 matched that for 2004.

The West, however, indicated ongoing growth in filings, with Hawaii up 22%, Utah increasing 19%, California up 19% and Arizona up 18%.

Bob Lawless, a University of Illinois College of Law professor believes that the slight decrease in filings might be a reflection of the increased difficulty in obtaining credit advances over the past couple of years.

As reported by Make Baker of the Associated Press, See The Seattle Times, 1/5/11 Page A-9 Business.

Unemployment up in two-thirds of metropolitain areas re: November 2010

Unemployment rates rose in more than two-thirds of the nation’s largest metro areas in November, a sharp reversal from the previous month and the most since June.

The Department of Labor recited on January 2, 2011, that unemployment rates rose in 258 of the 372 largest cities, fell in 88 cities and remained the same in 26 cities. That was worse than the previous month, in which rates fell in 200 areas.

Areas with weakness in the housing market are seeing growing unemployment e.g. California, Nevada, Florida and Georgia. Las Vegas, Atlanta, San Francisco and Miami also saw increases in unemployment.

November 2010 unemployment rose to 9.8% from 9.6% over October 2010.

Many laid-off workers are giving up on job searches.

Washington may have made some small gains during this time period, but remains at 9.2% unemployment for November 2010.

Auto Sales in trouble (again!) likely never to regain 2005 peak of 17.4 million

Buyers are only just easing back into the market, reports the Seattle Times, January 5, 2011, page A-7.

Auto sales peaked at 17.4 million back in 2005 and dropped to 10.6 million in 2009. The peak was fueled, in part, by big incentives – like employee-discounts-for-everyone schemes popular in 2005.

GM vice president of U.S. sales for GM Don Johnson says GM expects sales eventually will creep back to 15 or 16 million, but not much higher.

The average vehicle on the U.S. roads is now 10.2 years old, the oldest since 1997, and a full year older than in 2007.

Cars made up 49.8 percent of sales in 2010, while truck sales made up 50.2 percent,a nd trucks and SUV sales keep growing: in December 2010, they were 54.3% of total sales.