It has been a year since the number of consumers who resorted to bankruptcy was as high as it was last month. Rising rates could strain consumers.
Between businesses and consumers, there were 75,992 new cases that were filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Courts during all of March 2018.
Last month turned out to be the busiest month for new bankruptcy filings since March 2017, when the number was an upwardly revised 81,632.
In February 2018, there were 56,694 cases filed.
The American Bankruptcy Institute reported the data.
Out of every thousand Americans, 2.42 filed bankruptcy during the first-quarter 2018. The per-capita rate was highest in Alabama at 5.77. Tennessee’s 5.51 rate was next, then Georgia’s 4.54, Mississippi’s 4.29 and Illinois’ 3.84.
The ABI’s data indicate that consumer bankruptcies accounted for 72,353 of March’s filings, soaring from 53,899 the preceding month to the highest level since the downwardly revised 77,908 during March of last year.
There have been 178,004 non-commercial filings so far this year.
ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano warned in the report, “A long-awaited course correction on Fed monetary policy could make credit more expensive for consumers with household debt.”
