Late last month, we discussed slightly encouraging reports showing that unemployment may be starting to turn around.

But now we see that bankruptcy filings are rising again.

“More Americans filed for bankruptcy protection in March than during any month since the federal personal bankruptcy law was tightened in October 2005, a new report says, a result of high unemployment and the housing crash,” says an April 1 piece in The New York Times.

Despite enjoying 2 full quarters of 'recovery', and coming off a hefty 5.7% GDP quarter - the reality is not so happy down on Main Street (business). Keep in mind the year over year comparisons are versus the period of time (fall 2008/winter 2008-2009) when the recession was at its deepest, so to see continued "growth" in this area is certainly not a green shoot.

The January bankruptcy filing basically held steady to December, according to the new bankruptcy statistics now available from Automated Access to Court Electronic Records (AACER).

Business, consumer bankruptcies up in 2009

U.S. business bankruptcies rose 38 percent last year, to a record since bankruptcy laws were changed in 2005, according to a bankruptcy data firm on Tuesday.