U.S. Consumer Bankruptcies Rose to 132,173 in October
Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum and former director of the Congressional Budget Office, and Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, talk about the U.S. economy and fiscal policy. Speaking with Margaret Brennan on Bloomberg Television's "InBusiness," they also discuss the U.S. midterm elections, tax legislation and health-care costs. (Source: Bloomberg)
Bankruptcy filings by U.S. consumers totaled 132,173 last month, 1.4 percent more than in September, keeping Americans on track to file 1.6 million bankruptcies this year, the American Bankruptcy Institute said.
October’s total fell 2.8 percent from the same month last year, the institute said today in a statement. The information was based on data collected by the National Bankruptcy Research Center.
“As the issues of unemployment and economic stress weigh heavily on today’s elections, consumers continue to seek the financial shelter of bankruptcy,” Samuel J. Gerdano, the institute’s executive director, said in the statement.
U.S. unemployment in October probably remained at 9.6 percent for a third month, according to the median of 61 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. The Labor Department is scheduled to release jobless numbers in a Nov. 5 report.
More consumers filed for bankruptcy during the first 10 months of the year than for the same period in 2009, according to the institute. About 1.3 million consumers sought court protection from their debts so far this year, compared with about 1.2 million through October in 2009.
To contact the reporters on this story: Steven Church in Wilmington, Delaware, at schurch3@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David E. Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.net.
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