Financial Post
Published: Tuesday, July 07, 2009

OTTAWA - Consumer bankruptcies jumped more than 34% in May from a year earlier as household finances continued to take the brunt of the economic downturn.

There were 9,900 personal bankruptcies filed during the month, up 34.4% from 7,364 in May 2008, the federal Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy reported Tuesday.

On a monthly basis, consumer insolvencies were down 9.5% from 10,578 in April.

There were 464 business bankruptcies in May, down 16.2% from 554 a year earlier, and down 12.3% from 529 in April.

Total bankruptcies were up 30.9% to 10,364 in May from 7,918 a year earlier. On a monthly basis, however, insolvencies were down 9.6% from 11,465 in April.