General Growth's Chapter 11 filing today is a further indication that the retail economy is in a shambles, but it could also be a sign of worse things to come.

A reported two-month improvement of credit conditions in March gives hope to credit-strapped businesses for the unfreezing of bank lending.

Bankruptcy filings by larger companies liquidating or reorganizing in Chapter 11 in the first quarter rose 78 percent from the same period a year earlier and almost tripled from 2007 as the U.S. was mired in the 15th month of a recession.

Almost 131,000 bankruptcies of all types were filed in March, the most for any month since 2005, when Congress erected barriers to individuals looking to rid themselves of debt.

Filings increased 9.2 percent in March over February, according to data compiled by Automated Access to Court Electronic Records, a service of Jupiter ESources LLC in Oklahoma City. March bankruptcies rose 38 percent from a year earlier and 79 percent from 2007.

The surge of filings in March “suggest that earlier estimates of 1.4 million to 1.5 million cases in 2009 should be revised to somewhere in the 1.5 million to 1.6 million range,” said Mike Bickford, president of AACER, a bankruptcy data and management service. If Bickford’s high estimate proves correct, 2009 filings would exceed 2008 by about 45 percent.

Public companies filing for bankruptcy or reorganization through March 31 had a combined $101 billion in debt, according to a report earlier this week by Bankruptcydata.com. That’s almost ninefold higher than the $11.7 billion in the same period last year.

The spike in bankruptcy filings comes as unemployment jumped in March to the highest level since 1983. In the month, 663,000 Americans lost their jobs, bringing the jobless rate to 8.5 percent.

Almost 1.1 million Americans filed for bankruptcy in 2008, 32 percent more than the 827,000 filed in 2007 and 86 percent higher than the 590,500 filings in 2006. So far this year, bankruptcy filings total 323,500.

Bankruptcy filings still remain behind the all-time record of 2.1 million set in 2005, when 630,000 Americans sought bankruptcy protection in the two weeks before revisions to federal bankruptcy laws in October made it more difficult for individuals to erase debts.

The ailing economy continues to pull more Americans into bankruptcy court, where the number of troubled consumers filing for protection soared in March to its highest level since October 2005, when a new law made it more arduous and expensive to file.

And as job losses continue to climb, they may well drag bankruptcy filings along with them.

An average of 5,945 bankruptcy petitions were filed each day in March, up 9 percent from February and up 38 percent compared with a year earlier, according to Mike Bickford, president of Automated Access to Court Electronic Records, a bankruptcy data and management company. In all, 130,793 people filed for bankruptcy in March.

The weak economy and its repercussions — rising unemployment, lower pay, fewer people with health insurance, and the mortgage and foreclosure crises — are all playing a role in the big increase in bankruptcies. And some of the most common factors that tend to lead to bankruptcy filings — divorce and disruptive health problems — have not gone away.

But the biggest factor in the current spate of filings may be the tightening of credit.

“We have a lot of people out of work, but that alone is not driving the spike in bankruptcy filings,” said Robert M. Lawless, a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law. “Along with job loss is the tightening of consumer credit. Compared to 18 months ago, the American consumer does not have the same ability to borrow in an attempt to stave off the day of reckoning. With no income and no credit, it is not surprising that the middle class is looking to the bankruptcy courts for relief.”

Professor Lawless said he expected total bankruptcy filings to reach 1.45 million to 1.5 million by the end of the year, compared with nearly 1.1 million filings in 2008, an increase of 31 percent to 36 percent. It also means that filings are fast approaching the average number of annual filings of about 1.4 million before the new bankruptcy law took effect in October 2005.

“It shows you that a lot more people are hurting,” Mr. Bickford said. “Even with the more restrictive law in place, the filings are back up to the prelaw level.”

The law, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, made it more difficult for consumers to erase their debts through Chapter 7 bankruptcies. Those who earn more than their state’s median income are now required to first pass a means test — based on income, living expenses and other factors. If they are deemed able to repay some debts, they are then forced to pursue a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which sets up a three- or five-year repayment plan and makes it more difficult to get a fresh start.

“In a nutshell, bankruptcies happen because financial distress happens,” said Jack Williams, resident scholar at the American Bankruptcy Institute and a bankruptcy professor at the Georgia State University College of Law. “It is hubris to think that we can manage such a complex system by inserting a means test here, a credit counseling requirement there.”

Keith and Leola Gladney of St. Charles, Mo., filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy last summer. Their problems began to unfold in September 2007, when Mrs. Gladney, who was pregnant, was put on bed rest and could no longer work as a marketing assistant. They lost her income, though she did receive short-term disability payments. In January 2008, Mr. Gladney, 38, lost his job as a manager of an auto parts store. Within months, the couple had fallen behind on the mortgage payments on their home, which they bought for $130,000 in 2004.

They lost the house around the time their son was born in March 2008, and the couple had to move into a hotel with their newborn. Though they eventually found an apartment to rent, the Gladneys decided to file for bankruptcy. Adding to their troubles, Mrs. Gladney, 37, found out last November that she did not have a job to return to.

“It is really stressful for me because I thought I would find another job,” she said.

Mr. Gladney said he was hopeful that he was close to receiving a job offer on one of the 30 or so résumés he sends out daily. “We are trying to keep our heads up and keep a positive attitude and hope things will get better,” he said. “We go to church every Sunday. We haven’t changed our routine.”

If history is any guide, the number of bankruptcy filings will increase through this year, but will not jump as much as they did from February to March because that tends to be a popular time for filing, Professor Lawless said. But if legislation is passed that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify some primary mortgages, filings could rise significantly.

The House has approved a version of that so-called cramdown legislation, but the Senate did not have enough votes to overcome a filibuster by Republicans, who want the modifications to apply to a much smaller pool of loans. The Senate Democrats are working on a compromise, and say they hope they can bring the bill to the floor after Congress returns from recess on April 20.

The power to modify home mortgages would probably lead many more people to pursue bankruptcy to save their homes. If the legislation were to pass, Mr. Lawless said, 1.6 million would be a conservative estimate of the number of bankruptcy filings this year.

“We have to remember that prebankruptcy negotiations take place in the shadow of the bankruptcy law,” he added. “We would expect that banks would be more likely to come to the negotiation table.”

Regardless of what happens, the number of consumers filing for bankruptcy is expected to continue to climb even after the economy begins to recover.

“What is sobering about these numbers is that bankruptcy is generally a lagging economic indicator,” Professor Williams said. “So even as the economy starts to turn around down the road, we will still continue to see bankruptcy filings increase even past that turning point, and that trend will continue anywhere from three to five quarters.”

The number of businesses seeking bankruptcy protection hit its highest level in more than two years in March, as the recession sends more companies into financial crisis.

The 7,843 commercial bankruptcy filings last month represent a 23.2% jump from the 6,365 filings in February. It's also the highest monthly total of business filings since at least 2006, according to Automated Access to Court Electronic Records, or AACER.

Other data from AACER, a private firm that tracks bankruptcy filings, show that in the first quarter of this year, 20,251 businesses sought either Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 protection - a 52.4% increase over the 13,291 business bankruptcy filings during the same period last year.

The seizing up of the global credit markets and the U.S. recession caused bankruptcy filings to spike last year and to remain high into 2009. Many U.S. companies are strapped for cash and are unable to refinance, leading them to default on their debt obligations.

According to Standard & Poor's, 68 junk-rated issuers have defaulted so far this year - more than double the number of speculative-grade defaults in all of 2007. The ratings agency said 25 of the 68 defaults have resulted in bankruptcy filings. That includes chemical company Chemtura Corp., recreational-vehicle maker Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. and plastics processor Milacron Inc.

Bankruptcy filings by large publicly traded companies are up sharply, according to Lynn M. LoPucki, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. LocPucki expects 121 such companies to seek bankruptcy protection in 2009, a big jump over the current record of 97 in 2001.

Most of the large public companies that have sought bankruptcy protection this year are manufacturing companies, LoPucki said Friday. Many of these companies, he said, haven't had time to plan out a restructuring before they're forced into bankruptcy.

"This new set of companies are free-fall bankruptcies," he said. "They don't plan to sell the business, and they don't know exactly where they're going. They're seeking shelter in the bankruptcy courts and not indicating how long they plan to stay."

These companies, however, face a challenge once they're in bankruptcy court. The credit crisis has dried up all forms of bankruptcy financing, including debtor-in-possession loans and bankruptcy-exit loans.
 
Unwilling to fund a drawn-out reorganization amid the financial crisis, many lenders are forcing companies to either quickly find a buyer or liquidate. But buyers aren't necessarily lining up to purchase troubled companies and keep them operating.

"There aren't companies out there looking to buy companies right now," LoPucki said.

Without a lender or buyer, he said, many of these companies will use bankruptcy to ride out the storm.

"They don't want to get out quickly because they don't yet have the solution to the problems," he said. "They're hoping the economy will get better."