02 Aug Southern California – America’s Small Business Bankruptcy Leader
In a globalized business environment, it should be no surprise that some of the more interesting – and better – economic reporting on the US economy now comes from offshore.
Last month, China’s Xinhua news agency reported that California leads the nation in small-business bankruptcies. The report – based on data reported by Equifax – covers small business filings under all applicable chapters of the Bankruptcy Code (i.e., Chapters 7, 11, and 13). The Xinhua report (it broke the story a day before the Orange County Register) is here.
Equifax’s reporting shows that California remains the most impacted state, with the Los Angeles and Riverside/San Bernardino MSA’s leading the nation in small business bankruptcy flings by a significant margin.
The chart below provides a closer look at this trend.
# of
MSA # of Bankruptcies Bankruptcies % of Increase
Q1 2009 Q1 2010
Los Angeles-Long
Beach-Glendale, CA 899 1035 15.13%
Riverside-San
Bernardino-Ontario,
CA 663 736 11.01%
Sacramento-Arden-
Arcade-Roseville,
CA 462 522 12.99%
Houston-Sugar Land-
Baytown, TX 365 399 9.32%
San Diego-Carlsbad-
San Marcos, CA 345 387 12.17%
Portland-Vancouver-
Beaverton, OR-WA 276 386 39.86%
Denver-Aurora, CO 304 382 25.66%
Santa Ana-Anaheim-
Irvine, CA 359 370 3.06%
California -Rest of
State 233 335 43.78%
Phoenix-Mesa-
Scottsdale, AZ 234 327 39.74%
Dallas-Plano-
Irving, TX 348 323 -7.18%
Chicago-Naperville-
Joliet, IL 395 314 -20.51%
Atlanta-Sandy
Springs-Marietta,
GA 336 304 -9.52%
Oregon -Rest of
State 235 299 27.23%
--------------- --- --- -----
New York-White
Plains-Wayne, NY-
NJ 335 272 -18.80%
------------------ --- --- ------
Inc. Magazine picked up the story last week, commenting that “no area has been insulated from the recession and the economy clearly isn’t rebounding quickly enough.”
No kidding.
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