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ATLANTA, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- In a comprehensive study on bankruptcy trends among the nation's more than 24 million small businesses, Equifax (NYSE: EFX) uncovered surprising results within key metro areas. While California and several Western regions reported a deceleration in small business bankruptcies, the rate of decrease in these areas and others has been moderate enough to signal continued, underlying weaknesses in today's business markets. In fact, bankruptcy growth over the past six months of 2010 for some MSA's has been on par with rates seen in Q2 2009.  

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"These findings show the ups and downs of today's small businesses trying to navigate emerging market trends across all regions," said Dr. Reza Barazesh, senior vice president, Equifax Commercial Information Solutions. "The next six months will likely tell us how economic conditions will impact the future successes or failures of small firms across the country."  

This latest Equifax study analyzed national bankruptcy trends by metropolitan statistical area (MSA) over time, with a focus on the Q2 2009 to Q2 2010 timeframe. Results showed that 13 of the top 15 MSA's with the highest number of small business bankruptcies in Q2 2010 had a year-over-year decline from Q2 2009. While bankruptcy rates remain high in the nation's Western MSA's, Los Angeles was the only California region to experience a rise in bankruptcy petitions. With the exception of the Los Angeles/Long Beach and Houston/Sugar Land areas, all other regions on this list saw a drop in bankruptcy rate during the second quarter of 2010. The table below shows that the New York/White Plains and Atlanta/Sandy Springs/Marietta MSA's reported a bankruptcy rate decrease of 25.06% and 35.60% respectively – a decline greater than any other region during this time period.  

                                      Bankruptcy    Bankruptcy
MSA                                   Total Q2 2009 Total Q2 2010 % of Change

Los Angeles-Long Beach -Glendale, CA  971           1066          9.78%

Riverside-San Bernardino -Ontario, CA 756           708           -6.35%

Sacramento-Arden-Arcade -Roseville    605           493           -18.51%

Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX        388           394           1.55%

Denver-Aurora, CO                     407           388           -4.67%

Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA          403           366           -9.18%

Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA   401           350           -12.72%

San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos CA      394           344           -12.69%

Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX               412           343           -16.75%

California - Rest of State            379           341           -10.03%

Oregon - Rest of State                340           301           -11.47%

New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ    383           287           -25.06%

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ           300           280           -6.67%

Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA           351           278           -20.80

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA    427           275           -35.60%

While the total number of bankruptcies among the top 15 MSA's declined 16.0% from 7,397 in Q2 2009 to 6,214 in Q2 2010, the bankruptcy rate in these areas for the first six months of 2010 has kept pace with that of 2009. The chart below ranks the 15 MSA's with the highest number of small business bankruptcies for the first half of this year. Out of those MSA's, eight of the regions already have reported bankruptcies in the first six months of 2010 that total 49% or more of the total bankruptcies reported for all of 2009. As the table shows, these MSA's include areas in California as well as Denver, Colorado, Portland, Oregon and Phoenix, Arizona. Another interesting trend is that 13 of the MSA's remained in the top 15 year-over-year from Q2 2009 to Q2 2010 – a sign of the continued pressures imposed on small businesses in today's economic environment.      

                                                        1H 2010
                                                        Bankruptcy
                                  Bankruptcy            Rate as %  Q2 2009    Q2 2010
                                  Total 2010 Bankruptcy of 2009    Bankruptcy Bankruptcy
MSA                               YTD        Total 2009 Rate       Ranking    Ranking

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale,
CA                                2143       4,003      53.53%     1          1

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario,
CA                                1,456      2,882      50.52%     3          2

Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville 1,024      2,157      47.47%     4          3

Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX    808        1,574      51.33%     11         4

Denver-Aurora, CO                 784        1,572      49.87%     7          5

San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos CA  742        1,609      46.12%     10         8

Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA      740        1,589      46.57%     8          6

Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton,
OR-WA                             740        1481       49.97%     9          7

California - Rest of State        679        1317       51.56%     13         10

Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX           673        1511       44.54%     6          9

Oregon - Rest of State            631        1160       54.40%     15         11

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ       612        1111       55.09%     16         13

Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL     594        1927       30.83%     2          16

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta,
GA                                578        1486       38.90%     5          15

New York-White Plains-Wayne,
NY-NJ                             561        1308       42.89%     12         12

As part of the study, Equifax analyzed the 15 metro areas with the fewest small business bankruptcy filings in the second quarter of 2010.  Based on our findings, all of the following MSA's had 10 bankruptcies or less during Q1 2010:  

    --  Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA
    --  Columbia, SC
    --  Clarksville, TN-KY
    --  Baton Rouge, LA
    --  Alaska, Rest of State
    --  Gainesville, FL
    --  Durham, NC
    --  Binghamton, NY
    --  Wilmington, NC
    --  Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH
    --  Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV
    --  Gulfport-Biloxi, MS
    --  Charleston, WV
    --  Amarillo, TX
    --  Lynchburg, VA

For this study, Equifax applied analytics to identify the total number of small businesses and define the MSA's within the sample population. Equifax classifies a small business as a commercial entity of less than 100 employees. As part of the study, Equifax analyzed Chapter 7, 11 and 13 filings. Chapter 7 is a liquidation proceeding in which a debtor receives a discharge of all debts, while Chapters 11 and Chapter 13 are reorganization bankruptcies that allow individuals and companies to pay off debt over a set period of years.

Visit www.equifaxsmallbusiness.com for more information about Equifax Small Business Solutions.  

About Equifax Commercial Information Solutions

Equifax Commercial Information Solutions provides the information and expertise necessary for companies to best understand and manage their dealings with business customers, prospects and suppliers.  Our exclusive relationship with the Small Business Financial Exchange, along with other proprietary sources, provides the best-in-class commercial credit risk data.  Combined with highly predictive scoring and innovative technology, businesses can leverage this information to make quick, confident credit decisions and minimize potential losses.

About Equifax (www.equifax.com)

Equifax empowers businesses and consumers with information they can trust. A global leader in information solutions, we leverage one of the largest sources of consumer and commercial data, along with advanced analytics and proprietary technology, to create customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers.

With a strong heritage of innovation and leadership, Equifax continuously delivers innovative solutions with the highest integrity and reliability.  Businesses – large and small – rely on us for consumer and business credit intelligence, portfolio management, fraud detection, decisioning technology, marketing tools, and much more.  We empower individual consumers to manage their personal credit information, protect their identity, and maximize their financial well-being.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Equifax Inc. operates in the U.S. and 14 other countries throughout North America, Latin America and Europe. Equifax is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500® Index. Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EFX.

SOURCE Equifax Inc.