The number of bankruptcy applications in the United States is increasing dramatically! Lawyers warn that an abnormal wave is sweeping through various industries.

Due to the increasingly challenging lending environment and the turmoil brought on by tariff policies, the number of large US corporate bankruptcy cases has reached its highest level in 15 years. Amy Quackenboss, Executive Director of the American Bankruptcy Institute, earlier stated that rising costs, tightened credit conditions, and ongoing geopolitical turmoil continue to put pressure on families and businesses already facing financial difficulties. Robert Stark, Partner and Chair of the Bankruptcy and Corporate Restructuring Practice Group at law firm Brown Rudnick, pointed out that this wave of bankruptcies is highly unusual. Typically, bankruptcies tend to have industry stickiness, meaning they usually cluster within the same industry. He added that, for example, the cryptocurrency winter of 2022, when a series of cryptocurrency companies went bankrupt, was very challenging. But the current situation is interesting because bankruptcies are occurring across various industries. He couldn't pinpoint the specific reasons for bankruptcies in many industries, but he found it unusual and shocking in his 30 years of experience. Blooming Everywhere This year, large US companies that have filed for bankruptcy include hotel management company Sonder, airline Spirit, food company Del Monte Foods, retailer Claire's, and healthcare company Omnicare. Each company listed over $1 billion in debt in their court filings. According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, as of November, there have been 717 bankruptcy filings in the US, surpassing the 687 cases during the same period last year. S&P Global noted that even without counting December, this year's number of large corporate bankruptcies has already set a record high since 2010. Among them, the US industrial sector has been hit the hardest this year, with 110 companies filing for bankruptcy. The next most affected sector is optional consumer goods, with 85 companies filing for bankruptcy; followed by the healthcare sector, with 46 filings. At the same time, there has been a significant increase in bankruptcies among small businesses with total debts of $3,024,725 or less. Data from Epiq Analytics shows that as of mid-December, there have been over 2,300 bankruptcy filings from small businesses and individuals, representing a nearly 10% increase from the same period last year. Furthermore, data from the American Bankruptcy Institute also shows that in November 2025, personal bankruptcy filings increased by 8% compared to the same period last year, reaching 40,973 cases. This article was originally published on "Cailianshe" and edited by GMTEight, Liu Jiayin.