New Hampshire bankruptcies remain at record lows despite pandemic challenges

(The Center Square) – Continuing the trend of the last several months, New Hampshire saw record low bankruptcy numbers in November. Not a single business filed for bankruptcy during November, while about 60 individuals had to resort to the measure.

The Concord Monitor reports that except for three months in 2005, after a law passed making filing more difficult, this is the lowest number the state has reported in three decades.

Bruce Berke, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said he thought the numbers were probably reflective of two things.

“One is I think that our economy has been better than the region and perhaps the country,” Berke told The Center Square. “Our unemployment rate is down 4%, business has been performing relatively well considering the circumstances of the virus and pandemic; so I think that’s certainly one reason why. The other is maybe some of these very small businesses have not continued on. They’re probably being smart about it in terms of not going heavily into debt and therefore not having significant liabilities when they decide to shut their doors if any at all.”

The Concord Monitor reported that New Hampshire’s bankruptcy rate has been under 100 filings now for eight months, all during the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19. Numbers first dipped in April, and kept declining.

Bankruptcy attorneys anticipated business resuming once aid packages expired, but so far that has not been the case.

Berke noted these state and federal programs played a crucial role in keeping the economy afloat.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that the CARES Act that the state received and then also the federal programs from last spring, primarily the PPP and EIDL, were successful in helping businesses go through a very difficult time last spring, and be able to maintain throughout this calendar year,” Berke said.