Sunday, August 16, 2009

US bankruptcies soar to 1.3m in just 12 months

NEW YORK: The number of bankruptcies in the US skyrocketed to 1.31 million for the year ended June 2009, with over 85% of the filing taking place
since September last year.

Reeling under the worst financial turmoil in nearly 80 years, the count of bankruptcies till June this year, is 35% higher than the same period a year ago.

The bankruptcies stood at just 967,831 for the year ended June 30, 2008, according to the Administrative Office of the US Courts.

Since September 2008 -- the month when the famed financial services major Lehman Brothers went belly up -- the number of bankruptcies till June stood at 1.1 million.

"Non-business filings for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2009 totalled 1,251,294, up 34% from 934,009 non- business filings for June 30, 2008," the Administrative Office said in a recent statement.

Reflecting the severity of the financial situation, bankruptcy filings by businesses during the same period soared 63% to 55,021 for the year ended June 2009, compared to the year-ago period.

In the last 11 months, America has seen the collapse of many a well known names such as banking entity Washington Mutual and car makers -- General Motors and Chrysler. However, the two auto makers have emerged out of bankruptcy protection as leaner companies.

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