In an article published on June 21 in the Birmingham Business Journal, Scott Williams discusses recent bankruptcy filings in the state. He explains that while numbers have now leveled off, recent and anticipated interest rate hikes imposed by the Federal Reserve may cause an uptick in filings in the coming months and into next year.

Williams also addresses how the possible tariff war could impact Alabama as Alabama is dependent on steel and aluminum for the state’s automotive industry. “It will be interesting to see what the nature and extent of a tariff war will have on, not necessarily our big automotive plants, but the Tier 2 or Tier 3 suppliers,” he says.

The 2017 cumulative number of bankruptcy filings in Alabama totaled 26,667, and Williams explains that current numbers suggest 2018 will end with a similar cumulative amount. He states that interest rate hikes could impact those numbers, as many variable rate mortgages and credit cards are tied to the Fed funds rate. But, he says, unemployment is low, and that, along with increasing pressures on wage growth, could keep the number of filings down.

“We’ve just been in a period of moderate growth, moderate opportunity, that has not driven large numbers of bankruptcy filings, but there are always individual circumstances and individual industries that require filings to take place,” Williams states. “I expect that to continue in the future, but I don’t expect any major or significant changes in the filing trends through the end of the year.”

Link to article