NH bankruptcies near record lows again

After a slight two-month bump in New Hampshire bankruptcy filings, they have plummeted again.

Some 62 individuals filed for protection in May, with no business filings. That’s about a third fewer than April, and about a fifth under the May 2020 number. While not a record low – that honor is held by January 2021, with 54 – it’s pretty close.

Most observers expected bankruptcies to increase during the pandemic. Instead – thanks to massive amounts of federal assistance and protections – they fell to levels not seen in a generation.

Inn May 2020, when the state unemployment rate was 13.1%, there were 77 filings, and that was a record at the time. This May was even lower. The high for the month, by the way, was 472 filings in May 2010.

Year-to-date, the monthly average is 72. In 2020, it was 88. Compare that to the 2010 monthly average of 459 in the midst of the last recession.

Filings by business are also down. There were just personal filings that included business-related debt in May compared to four filings in April and eight in March. Not a single business filed directly for the month, compared to one in April and four in March.