Tag: Harriet Torry

Coronavirus Was Supposed to Drive Bankruptcies Higher. The Opposite Happened.

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-was-supposed-to-drive-bankruptcies-higher-the-opposite-happened-11617010201?mod=djemwhatsnews

Graphic:

Excerpt:

The number of people seeking bankruptcy fell sharply during the pandemic as government aid propped up income and staved off housing and student-loan obligations.

Bankruptcy filings by consumers under chapter 7 were down 22% last year compared with 2019, while individual filings under chapter 13 fell 46%, according to Epiq data. After holding above 50,000 filings a month in 2019 and in the first quarter of 2020, bankruptcy filings have remained below 40,000 a month since last March when the pandemic hit.

By contrast, commercial bankruptcy filings rose 29%, with more than 7,100 businesses seeking chapter 11 protection last year, according to Epiq.

Author(s): Soma Biswas, Harriet Torry

Publication Date: 29 March 2021

Publication Site: Wall Street Journal

Lower-Income Covid-19 Aid Recipients Seen Boosting Consumer Spending

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/lower-income-covid-19-aid-recipients-seen-boosting-consumer-spending-11613298600?mod=djemwhatsnews

Excerpt:

Early signs point to an uptick in consumer spending at the start of the year, particularly by lower- and middle-income households receiving payments through the most recent Covid-19 relief package.

Spending by consumers who make less than $60,000 a year jumped by more than 20% in the week ended Jan. 10—the week after the U.S. Treasury Department began electronically sending stimulus payments of $600 per adult and $600 per child for individuals with adjusted gross incomes under $75,000—according to the research group Opportunity Insights’ tracker of figures from Affinity Solutions, which collects consumer credit- and debit-card spending data.

Author(s): Harriet Torry

Publication Date: 14 February 2021

Publication Site: Wall Street Journal