Numbers to Watch & Where to Find Them
You can follow credit bubbles as they pop and splatter their way through our financial institutions at https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases, where the Federal Reserve posts monthly reports that track the effects of the credit crisis on America's economic infrastructure.
If the flow of money fuels American capitalism, then these reports are the fuel gauges. The Fed's unglamorous reports give us hard data on how much money is coursing through the American economy.
- Monthly G.19 Reports. These are the reports on consumer borrowing, both traditional loans (such as car loans) and "revolving debt," also known as credit cards. Each month, the Fed lists Americans' total amount on our credit card bills. The amounts are staggering -- and show no signs of shrinking. Read more at https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g19/.
- The "charge off" rate. This is the percent of loans, including credit card balances, that the lender has written off as uncollectible. The latest figures show at what rate banks are giving up on the credit card amounts owed to them. More information here: https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/chargeoff/.
- The savings rate. This data shows how much Americans are saving each year.: https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/PSAVERT. For other Fed research data on personal spending, see https://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#personal.
- The bankruptcy filing rate. How many people are filing for bankruptcy, and for what kind (Chapter 7 or 13) and where (Statistics by District). The US court system keeps this data, updated monthly and can be found here: https://www.uscourts.gov/bnkrpctystats/statistics.htm.
You can get other important numbers and information from non-governmental sources, including:
- RealtyTrac, which offers one-stop shopping for the latest foreclosure statistics and news
- InsideARM.com, which offers an excellent, well-organized archive of timely articles on economic data affecting the debt and credit industry. The link below is for Credit Card news, but be sure to hover your cursor over the News & Analysis link for a list of other areas you can search: https://www.insidearm.com/go/tags/credit%20card.
Bankruptcy Filing info By District
The best place to find data about bankruptcy filings by district in the United States is the United States Courts website. They offer two main resources:
1. Caseload Statistics Data Tables:
- This section provides various statistical reports on the federal judiciary, including bankruptcy filings.
- You can specifically access the "Bankruptcy Filings" report, further categorized by sub-topics like:
- U.S. Bankruptcy Courts - Business and Nonbusiness Cases Filed, by Chapter of the Bankruptcy Code, District, and County (Report F-5A): This report breaks down filings by chapter, district, and county, updated quarterly (ending March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31).
- U.S. Bankruptcy Courts - Bankruptcy Cases Filed, Terminated, and Pending (Report F-09):This report offers broader statistics on filings, terminations, and pending cases by district and national totals, updated quarterly.
2. Bankruptcy Filings Statistics:
- This dedicated page provides an overview of bankruptcy filing statistics and links to various resources:
- Data visualization dashboard: This interactive dashboard allows you to visualize bankruptcy filings by district, chapter, and time period.
- Report F-5A download: You can directly download the latest F-5A report in different formats (CSV, Excel, etc.).
- Additional reports: Explore other reports like historical data and analysis on bankruptcy trends.
Data Update Frequency:
- Both the Caseload Statistics Data Tables and Bankruptcy Filings Statistics are updated quarterly,typically within a few weeks after the quarter ends.
Downloading and API Access:
- Downloading: Most reports are available for download in various formats like CSV, Excel, and PDF.You can directly download them from the respective report pages.
- API Access: Unfortunately, the US Courts website doesn't currently offer direct API access to bankruptcy filing data. However, you can download the data in machine-readable formats (CSV,Excel) and utilize web scraping tools or libraries to extract and integrate the data into your applications.
Here are the specific links to the resources mentioned above:
- Caseload Statistics Data Tables: https://www.uscourts.gov/statistics-reports/caseload-statistics-data-tables
- Bankruptcy Filings Statistics: https://www.uscourts.gov/statistics-reports/analysis-reports/bankruptcy-filings-statistics
The content of this article pertains to all US states and counties.