Personal bankruptcies for the fiscal year ended September 30 were up 7.8% over the same period one year earlier, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
During FY2003, 1.63-million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy. The annual figure was up even though the number of personal bankruptcies actually fell 6% to 412,989 for the quarter ended Sept. 30. The region with the largest number of personal bankruptcies was Central California, with 77,131, followed by Northern Illinois (59,647) and central Florida (54,908).
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said all bankruptcy filings for fiscal 2003 rose to 1.66 million, but business filings fell 7.4% to 36,183 over the same 12-month period.
