A growing number of the state’s residents filed for bankruptcy during the first half of this year, countering a national trend. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Utah received 9,927 bankruptcy petitions in the first six months of 2011, an 11 percent increase over the number filed in the same period a year ago. Bankruptcy filings in the state during the first half of 2010 were up 31 percent over the previous year.
Utah’s rising bankruptcy numbers may be a sign that the state is a victim of its own economic success. Relatively low unemployment here — 7.3 percent versus 9.2 percent nationally — may be providing more of the state’s residents with the financial wherewithal to file for bankruptcy, compared with elsewhere. Salt Lake Tribune
