Economists on Monday discussed whether the U.S. already is in a recession.

The newest bankruptcy data provided by Epiq AACER might reinforce the point-of-view from experts who see things already in a recessionary state.

Also surfacing Monday, Epiq reported total U.S. bankruptcy filings in July increased 24% year-over-year from 35,727 to 44,427.

Epiq indicated individual bankruptcy filings registered a 25% increase, to 42,092 in July from the July 2023 individual total of 33,723.

Analysts found the number of consumers filing for Chapter 7 increased 32% to 25,720 in July from the 19,463 who filed for Chapter 7 last July, while Chapter 13 filings increased 15% to 16,307 in July from the 14,211 Chapter 13 filings in July of last year.

Meanwhile, Epiq also mentioned commercial Chapter 11 filings jumped 40% in July to 510 from the 364 filings in July of last year.

Analysts added overall commercial filings increased 17% in July to 2,335 from 2,004 in July 2023.

Sound like recession trajectories, perhaps? Michael Hunter is vice president of Epiq AACER.

“We continue to see a strong and steady rise in bankruptcy filings across the board, reflecting ongoing financial pressures faced by both businesses and individuals,” Hunter said in a news release. “Based on current trends and economic indicators, I expect bankruptcy filing volumes to continue this steady increase throughout the remainder of 2024 and into 2025.”

Looking at the data sequentially, Epiq determined July’s total bankruptcy filings represented a 10% increase from June’s total of 40,276.

Analysts said total individual filings for July marked a 12% rise from the June individual filing total of 37,518.

Consumer Chapter 7 filings increased 16% from the 22,190 Chapter 7 cases filed in June, while Chapter 13 filings ticked up 7% over the 15,230 filings last month, according to Epiq

Conversely, Epiq pointed out the commercial filing total resulted in a 15% decrease from the June commercial filing total of 2,758, and commercial Chapter 11 filings decreased 48% from the 989 filings in June, which saw two cases with many related filings.

Epiq AACER is a division of Epiq and is a leading provider of data, technology, and services for companies operating in the business of bankruptcy.

To learn more, go to https://bankruptcy.epiqglobal.com.