Bankruptcy Filings Near 1 Million Mark, Up 29% on the Year

The number of U.S. residents and businesses that filed for bankruptcy rose 28.9% to 976,831 for the year ended June 30, 2008, according to U.S. court data released Wednesday.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts reported that non-business filings comprised 96.5% of that total, or 934,009. More than 33,800 businesses filed for bankruptcy during that 12-month period, an increase of 41.6% from the year prior.

Filings made in the third quarter - the three-month period ended June 30, 2008 - totalled 276,510, the highest quarterly filings since the Judiciary's first fiscal year quarter in 2006.

So far, filings for the June quarter are the highest of any quarter in fiscal year 2008 (Oct. 1, 2007 - Sept. 30, 2008), the data show. First quarter filings totalled 226,413 and second quarter filings totalled 245,695.

By Stephen Huebl and edited by Sarah Sussman