Upward year-over-year movements in February of every bankruptcy classification certainly caught experts’ attention.

According to data from Epiq AACER, total bankruptcy filings in February jumped 14% year-over-year to 45,891. That’s up from 40,304 filings in February 2025.

The February update showed individual bankruptcy filings increased 13% in February to 43,225, up from the February 2025 individual filing total of 38,104.

Epiq AACER said there were 26,677 individual Chapter 7 filings in February, a 17% increase over the 22,891 filings recorded in February of last year. Individual Chapter 13 filings in February totaled 16,437, a 9% increase from 15,132 last February.

And possibly fueling softness in the job market, Epiq AACER reported that small business filings, captured as Subchapter V elections within Chapter 11, increased 91% in February to 314, up from 164 the previous year.

The update also noted commercial Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings increased 67% in February, with 814 filings increasing from 487 filings in February of last year.

Experts explained February’s commercial Chapter 11 total reflects many related filings tied to a few sizeable commercial Chapter 11 proceedings. Total February commercial filings increased 21% to 2,666 from the 2,200 commercial filings in February 2025.

“The significant increases in Subchapter V elections reflect the reality that many small businesses are operating in a challenging environment with higher borrowing costs, softening client demand, and tighter lending standards,” Epiq AACER vice president Michael Hunter said in a news release. “At the same time, households are managing rising credit card and auto delinquencies, increasing foreclosure starts, and higher mortgage delinquency rates. This is particularly true within the Federal Housing Administration and Government National Mortgage Association segment.

“Layer in ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, return of pre-pandemic normalized filer volumes, and the expiration of COVID-era forbearance plans and stimulus, it’s clear why small‑business restructurings and individual filings continue to increase compared to last year,” Hunter continued.

Even with one less business day and storm-related shutdowns in the Northeast, many February bankruptcy categories were notable when compared to January data.

Epiq AACER determined total bankruptcies registered only a small increase of 0.2% when compared to the January filing total of 45,815, and individual bankruptcies increased 1% from the 42,959 filings registered during the previous month.

Individual Chapter 7 filings increased 3% from January’s total of 25,803, while Chapter 13 filings fell 4% from the 17,045 filings recorded the previous month, according to Epiq AACER.

Conversely, overall commercial filings decreased 7% from the previous month’s total of 2,856, and total commercial Chapter 11 cases dropped 15% from January’s 957 total. Experts said this was due in large part to an increase in related Chapter 11 case filings in January.

Nonetheless, it’s the small business trends that are most noteworthy in the view of Amy Quackenboss, who is executive director at the American Bankruptcy Institute.

“Subchapter V filings have grown for eight consecutive months amid inflation, high interest rates, tightening credit, and geopolitical headwinds,” Quackenboss said in the news release. “The streamlined process of Subchapter V provides struggling small businesses with the opportunity to restructure and preserve jobs in a challenging economy.”

ABI has partnered with Epiq AACER to provide the most current bankruptcy filing data for analysts, researchers, and members of the news media.