AP: 2009 Bankruptcies Total 1.4 million, Up 32 Pct

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

AP: 2009 bankruptcies total 1.4 million, up 32 pct

By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jan 4, 4:12 pm ET

RALEIGH, N.C. – U.S. consumers and businesses are filing for bankruptcy at a pace that made 2009 the seventh-worst year on record, with more than 1.4 million petitions submitted, an Associated Press tally showed Monday.

The AP gathered data from the nation's 90 bankruptcy districts and found 1.43 million filings, an increase of 32 percent from 2008. There were 116,000 recorded bankruptcies in December, up 22 percent from the same month a year before.

While experts believe some of the increase is due to a natural recovery as consumers and attorneys become accustomed to a recent overhaul of bankruptcy laws, the numbers indicate clear correlations to recession-weary regions. Arizona saw the fastest increase, a jump of 77 percent from the year before, followed by Wyoming (60 percent), Nevada (59 percent) and California (58 percent).

Emile Harmon, who owns a law firm in Tempe, Ariz., said the firm has doubled its staff to handle the surge in bankruptcy filings. The lawyers have been steadily shifting away from their other areas of business, civil lawsuits and divorce cases.

"Bankruptcy is kind of swallowing the whole practice." Harmon said. "There's little time to do other stuff."

There's also no sign that things are slowing down. Harmon said bankruptcies have been coming in waves, first with those 18 months ago who had adjustable-rate mortages, then with those who lost their jobs due to the housing downturn. Now he's finding wealthy individuals and business owners who have finally succumbed to lower incomes and shrinking home values.

"A lot of the people we see were in a really good financial position two years ago," Harmon said. "People really look at you and say, 'I can't believe I'm here.'"

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100104/ap_on_bi_ge/us_bankruptcy_boom

[zalinda]

1. And then there are the uncounted

those that don't have the funds to be able to declare bankruptcy. I'm one of them.

zalinda

[DebbieCDC]

2. The only dept. at my employer that's done any hiring in the last year

is the bankruptcy/foreclosure dept.

How's that for a comment on the times we live in?

[BP2]

3. Is there a tie with this and

the current rally on Wall Street?

[Jefferson23]

4. I thought this article was interesting and will add it here, as job dissatisfaction

has a great deal to do with the amount of money one can rely on and the rising costs of health care. This is a very sad time for too many Americans on so many levels.

Americans' job satisfaction falls to record low
Survey says American workers can't get no job satisfaction; recession partly to blame


snip* "It says something troubling about work in America. It is not about the business cycle or one grumpy generation," says Linda Barrington, managing director of human capital at the Conference Board, who helped write the report, which was released Tuesday.

Workers have grown steadily more unhappy for a variety of reasons:

-- Fewer workers consider their jobs to be interesting.

-- Incomes have not kept up with inflation.

-- The soaring cost of health insurance has eaten into workers' take-home pay.

If the job satisfaction trend is not reversed, economists say, it could stifle innovation and hurt America's competitiveness and productivity. And it could make unhappy older workers less inclined to take the time to share their knowledge and skills with younger workers.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Americans-job-satisfaction-apf-1483464009.html?x=0