Alaska bankruptcies--Anchorage versus Fairbanks.

• Author: Cox, William
• Position: Alaska Trends

The increasing rate of bankruptcies experienced in Alaska and the U.S. is due to many economic factors related to the downturn in the economy since the beginning of the recession in December 2007. (1) Some of the factors that have contributed to this increase include but are not limited to higher unemployment and underemployment, limited access to capital due to more stringent loan requirements by banks, variable rate mortgages whose rates have reset, and businesses become increasingly cautious and waiting as long as possible before increasing their staff.

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The chart shows bankruptcy figures for both Anchorage and Fairbanks on a monthly basis from January 2009 through June 2011. As shown in the chart, Anchorage experienced a steady increase in the frequency of bankruptcies since January 2009, but with less volatility than Fairbanks, increasing from 35...