US bankruptcies soar 33% to 1.2 mn in a year

The number of bankruptcy filings in the US soared more than 33 per cent for the year ended March 31, 2009, as the world's largest economy continued to reel under the worst financial turmoil since the 1930s.

The bankruptcy filings count ballooned 33.3 per cent to 1,202,503 for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2008.

In the comparable period, the same stood at 9,01,927, the statistics from the Administrative Office of the US Courts showed.

With the collapsed of then famed Lehman Brothers in September last year, the financial crisis turned for the worse rattling the American economy.

Majority of the cases were related to "non-business debts" or personal filings.

"Non-business filings (also called personal or consumer filings) for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2009, totaled 1,153,412, up 32.4 per cent from the 871,186 bankruptcies filed in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2008," the Administrative Office of the US Courts said in a statement.

The filings related to business debts also climbed during the period. "They totaled 49,091, up 59.7 per cent from the 30,741 business bankruptcies filed in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2008," the statement noted.