Reading a report today from ATB Daily economic comment on Canadian bankruptcies i found it interesting that In February 2010 there were 637 Albertans who filed for bankruptcy. That number is down from a total of 684 in January and 706 in February 2009.
Alberta and P.E.I were the only two provinces to see a decline from January in the number of bankruptcies, as filings in the three largest provinces of Ontario, Quebec and B.C. all rose by more than 10%.
After holding steady in the range of 600 to 800 monthly bankruptcy filings from 1998 to 2005, Alberta consumer bankruptcies dropped to record levels during the recent economic boom. Recently though, bankruptcies took off as the recession hit but have since again dropped back and are now back to the cconsistent levels seen from 1998-2005.
I see this as another indication we have put the worst of the recession behind us and we are continuing to move back into an economic position of stability going forward. One variable that will affect consumers is the near term increase in mortgage rates. In my opinion the interest rate increase and easing of the monetary stimulus by the Bank of Canada (BOC) will cool our economic growth but the rate rise will simply put us back into longer term averages. I expect it will be absorbed by our strong economy without causing any major problems.
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