U.S. corporate bankruptcy filings surged in August, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The rating agency reported that 63 corporate bankruptcies were filed in the month, up from 49 in July, pushing the total through the first eight months of the year to 452 filings.
By comparison, there were 466 bankruptcies in the first eight months of 2020, when companies were grappling with the effects of the onset of the pandemic, S&P noted.
The consumer discretionary sector led the way with 69 bankruptcy filings so far this year, followed by the industrials and health-care sectors.
“Investor sentiment was most averse toward stocks in the consumer discretionary segment in August due to recession fears, according to the results from the latest S&P Global Investment Manager Index survey,” the firm noted.
In August, three of the bankruptcy filings had liabilities of over US$1 billion. There were 21 filings with liabilities of at least US$1 billion through the first eight months of the year.
“U.S. companies continue to struggle with several issues this year, including high interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty,” the firm said.