Small-business bankruptcies jump 81 percent in June
• California is hardest hit state
• Sacramento one of hardest hit metro areas
Commercial bankruptcies among the nation’s more than 25 million small businesses increased by nearly 81 percent in June 2009 from June 2008, according to Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX), which analyzed its small business database for the study.
There were 10,339 bankruptcy filings in June 2009 throughout the U.S., up from 5,712 a year ago, according to the data.
California is the most negatively affected state with 10 MSA’s (metropolitan statistical areas) among the 15 areas with the most commercial bankruptcy filings during June.
Los Angeles, Riverside/San Bernardino and Sacramento metropolitan areas led the nation in small-business bankruptcy filings.
“The data shows that the economic pain is continuing for small businesses across the country,” says Reza Barazesh, head of North American research for Equifax’s Commercial Information Solutions division. “While it may not be quite as intense in some areas as what we saw earlier this year, we’re still seeing hefty increases in the number of bankruptcies in a lot of major metro areas”.
