While bankruptcy filings soften again in July, experts caution that the trend could change later this year.

According to data provided this week by Epiq Bankruptcy, bankruptcy filings totaled 30,848 in July, representing a 5% decline from last July’s total of 32,399.

Experts reported noncommercial bankruptcy filings totaled 29,256 in July, also registering a 5% decrease from last July’s noncommercial total of 30,676.

Epiq also mentioned overall commercial filings decreased 8% in July, as the 1,592 filings were down from the 1,723 commercial filings registered during the same month last year.

Experts noted that small business filings — captured as subchapter V elections within Chapter 11 — dipped from 107 last July to 104 last month.

“New bankruptcy filings slowed in July, including chapter 13 cases which have been on a steady increase so far this year,” Epiq Bankruptcy senior vice president Chris Kruse said in a news release.

“We continue to monitor closely the impact of new variants of the COVID-19 virus, historically low unemployment rates, and fears of difficult economic times ahead, which lead us to anticipate an increase in bankruptcy filings as we exit the summer,” Kruse continued.

On a sequential comparison, Epiq’s data showed July’s total filing tally marked a 4% drop from the June figure of 32,182 total filings.

Noncommercial filing were off by 3%, according to the data, as the June total was 30,305.

“In addition to global supply and inflation concerns, rising interest rates pushing overall borrowing costs higher could leave financially distressed consumers and businesses in a precarious economic position,” says American Bankruptcy Institute executive director Amy Quackenboss said in the same news release.

“Bankruptcy provides refuge for struggling families and businesses looking to establish a financial fresh start.”

ABI has partnered with Epiq Bankruptcy, a leading provider of data, technology, and services for companies operating in the business of bankruptcy, to provide the most current bankruptcy filing data for analysts, researchers and members of the news media.