Total U.S. bankruptcy filings fell 1% to 64,662 in February compared to 65,064 in February 2015, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute, based on data provided by Epiq Systems.
Consumer filings also declined slightly in February to 61,662 compared to 62,784 in the same month a year ago but were 24% higher than January’s 49,728.
"February showed that decreases in total filings are starting to level off, and more businesses are turning to the financial relief of bankruptcy,” said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano.
Total commercial filings in February jumped to 3,000, a 32% increase from the 2,280 business filings recorded in February 2015, according to ABI.
Month-to-month filings rose 23% in February compared to the 52,542 total filings recorded in January.
There were 476 commercial chapter 11 filings in February, which represents a 4% decrease from the 494 filings in January.
The average nationwide per capita bankruptcy-filing rate in February was 2.26, compared to 2.02 in January, according to ABI. States with the highest per capita filing rate (total filings per 1,000 population) in February 2016 were: Tennessee (5.39); Alabama (5.09); Georgia (4.73); Illinois (4.10) and Mississippi (3.55).
