Citizen Staff Report
Citizen Staff Report
news@tucsoncitizen.com
Bankruptcies in Pima County rose 77 percent in January compared with year-ago filings.
That’s about even with the statewide rise in filings, prompted by the weak economy that has led to layoffs and business closures.
The Tucson sector of U.S. Bankruptcy Court – which includes Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Pinal and Santa Cruz counties – showed an 88 percent gain in filings in January. Pima and Pinal counties make up 90 percent of the filings in the Tucson sector.
Most of the filings were Chapter 7 individual liquidations, which more than doubled from 126 in January ’08 to 267 last month.
The number of Chapter 13 filings – business liquidation – rose 32 percent, from 63 to 83.
The nationwide recession is hitting Pima County hard. Since December 2007, the Tucson area has lost 15,700 jobs. Unemployment went up from 5.8 percent in November to 6.5 percent in December.
Pima County bankruptcies up 77 percent