As the new year has begun, it is time to look at the bankruptcy filing statistics from the first part of 2019 as compared to the first part of 2018. This fact will dictate where we may be heading for the rest of 2019. As expected, total bankruptcy filings in January 2019 increased 5 percent from January 2018’s total of 54,650 filings. Importantly to consumer bankruptcy attorneys as well as to the general public, consumer filings increased 6 percent in January 2019 to 54,711 from the January 2018 consumer filing total of 51,758.
Although we see a significant increase by way of percentage, this actually shows that lending has loosened up and people are gainfully employed to a great extent. The ability to obtain credit and to have decent purchasing power due to high employment, leads to an increase in filings. This is not a bad indicator at all. In fact, when things are going well in the United States, bankruptcy filings actually rise. If employment numbers remain the same or increase and if credit lending remains strong, then expect filing numbers to increase during 2019 and beyond.
