Unrelenting Joblessness Feeds Rising Bankruptcy Rate
With the unemployment rate flirting with 10%, personal and commercial bankruptcy filings are again spiking higher and are projected to reach 1.5 million this year, according to a USA Today report June 4.
Personal bankruptcy filings occurred 6,020 times a day last month, not quite as bad as the 2 million filings in 2005, but startlingly higher than 2008’s 1.1 million. Corporate bankruptcies are occurring at the rate of 376 a day, compared to 255 a day in May 2008.
According to USA Today, Nevada, Michigan and California had the largest increase in bankruptcy filings per capita last month, higher than anywhere else in the nation. (Think real estate bust and ailing car makers.)
Bankruptcy laws were rejiggered in 2005 to reduce abuse of the system and make it harder for individuals to file for bankruptcy. But rising joblessness is putting the squeeze on many families, who then follow a predictable downward spiral of exhausting savings, depleting retirement accounts and turning to credit cards to pay the bills before resorting to the worst-case scenario — bankruptcy.
What’s the best defense? Follow these strategies to protect yourself if you fear a job layoff could happen to you.
