[Economic Report of the President (1998)]
[Administration of William J. Clinton]
[Online through the Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]



Table B-96.--Business formation and business failures, 1955-97
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Business failures\1\
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Index  of                                 Number of  failures      Amount of current liabilities
net                              ------------------------------     (millions of dollars)
business   New business                         Liability size   ------------------------------
Year or month                      formation  incorporations  Business                   class                     Liability size
(1967=      (number)      failure           --------------------                   class
100)                     rate\2\    Total                         Total   -------------------
Under   $100,000               Under   $100,000
$100,000  and over             $100,000  and over
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1955..................................................      96.6       139,915        41.6     10,969    10,113      856       449.4    206.4      243.0
1956..................................................      94.6       141,163        48.0     12,686    11,615    1,071       562.7    239.8      322.9
1957..................................................      90.3       137,112        51.7     13,739    12,547    1,192       615.3    267.1      348.2
1958..................................................      90.2       150,781        55.9     14,964    13,499    1,465       728.3    297.6      430.7
1959..................................................      97.9       193,067        51.8     14,053    12,707    1,346       692.8    278.9      413.9

1960..................................................      94.5       182,713        57.0     15,445    13,650    1,795       938.6    327.2      611.4
1961..................................................      90.8       181,535        64.4     17,075    15,006    2,069     1,090.1    370.1      720.0
1962..................................................      92.6       182,057        60.8     15,782    13,772    2,010     1,213.6    346.5      867.1
1963..................................................      94.4       186,404        56.3     14,374    12,192    2,182     1,352.6    321.0    1,031.6
1964..................................................      98.2       197,724        53.2     13,501    11,346    2,155     1,329.2    313.6    1,015.6
1965..................................................      99.8       203,897        53.3     13,514    11,340    2,174     1,321.7    321.7    1,000.0
1966..................................................      99.3       200,010        51.6     13,061    10,833    2,228     1,385.7    321.5    1,064.1
1967..................................................     100.0       206,569        49.0     12,364    10,144    2,220     1,265.2    297.9      967.3
1968..................................................     108.3       233,635        38.6      9,636     7,829    1,807       941.0    241.1      699.9
1969..................................................     115.8       274,267        37.3      9,154     7,192    1,962     1,142.1    231.3      910.8

1970..................................................     108.8       264,209        43.8     10,748     8,019    2,729     1,887.8    269.3    1,618.4
1971..................................................     111.1       287,577        41.7     10,326     7,611    2,715     1,916.9    271.3    1,645.6
1972..................................................     119.3       316,601        38.3      9,566     7,040    2,526     2,000.2    258.8    1,741.5
1973..................................................     119.1       329,358        36.4      9,345     6,627    2,718     2,298.6    235.6    2,063.0
1974..................................................     113.2       319,149        38.4      9,915     6,733    3,182     3,053.1    256.9    2,796.3
1975..................................................     109.9       326,345        42.6     11,432     7,504    3,928     4,380.2    298.6    4,081.6
1976..................................................     120.4       375,766        34.8      9,628     6,176    3,452     3,011.3    257.8    2,753.4
1977..................................................     130.8       436,170        28.4      7,919     4,861    3,058     3,095.3    208.3    2,887.0
1978..................................................     138.1       478,019        23.9      6,619     3,712    2,907     2,656.0    164.7    2,491.3
1979..................................................     138.3       524,565        27.8      7,564     3,930    3,634     2,667.4    179.9    2,487.5

1980..................................................     129.9       533,520        42.1     11,742     5,682    6,060     4,635.1    272.5    4,362.6
1981..................................................     124.8       581,242        61.3     16,794     8,233    8,561     6,955.2    405.8    6,549.3
1982..................................................     116.4       566,942        88.4     24,908    11,509   13,399    15,610.8    541.7   15,069.1
1983..................................................     117.5       600,420       109.7     31,334    15,572   15,762    16,072.9    635.1   15,437.8
1984..................................................     121.3       634,991       107.0     52,078    33,527   18,551    29,268.6    409.8   28,858.8
1985..................................................     120.9       664,235       115.0     57,253    36,551   20,702    36,937.4    423.9   36,513.5
1986..................................................     120.4       702,738       120.0     61,616    38,908   22,708    44,724.0    838.3   43,885.7
1987..................................................     121.2       685,572       102.0     61,111    38,949   22,162    34,723.8    746.0   33,977.8
1988..................................................     124.1       685,095        98.0     57,097    38,300   18,797    39,573.0    686.9   38,886.1
1989..................................................     124.8       676,565        65.0     50,361    33,312   17,049    42,328.8    670.5   41,658.2

1990..................................................     120.7       647,366        74.0     60,747    40,833   19,914    56,130.1    735.6   55,394.5
1991..................................................     115.2       628,604       107.0     88,140    60,617   27,523    96,825.3  1,044.9   95,780.4
1992..................................................     116.3       666,800       110.0     97,069    68,264   28,805    94,317.5  1,096.7   93,220.8
1993..................................................     121.1       706,537       109.0     86,133    61,188   24,945    47,755.5    947.6   46,807.9
1994..................................................     125.5       741,778        86.0     71,558    50,814   20,744    28,977.9    845.0   28,132.9
1995..................................................       (3)       766,988        82.0     71,128    49,495   21,633    37,283.6    866.1   36,417.4
1996..................................................       (3)       790,332        80.0     71,811    49,547   22,264    34,021.1    913.1   33,108.0
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(1)Seasonally adjusted
---------------------------
1996:Jan..............................................       (3)        69,345     ........     6,038     4,217    1,821     4,310.3     66.9    4,243.4
Feb...............................................       (3)        69,617     ........     5,547     3,888    1,659     1,905.8     65.2    1,840.7
Mar...............................................       (3)        60,449     ........     6,637     4,561    2,076     1,656.6     81.4    1,575.2
Apr...............................................       (3)        67,180     ........     6,720     4,634    2,086     3,000.3     90.4    2,909.9
May...............................................       (3)        68,186     ........     7,233     4,954    2,279     2,427.0     89.0    2,338.0
June..............................................       (3)        61,513     ........     6,272     4,326    1,946     1,537.2     80.3    1,456.8

July..............................................       (3)        73,060     ........     4,530     3,171    1,359     4,281.0     48.4    4,232.5
Aug...............................................       (3)        62,164     ........     4,977     3,340    1,637     1,518.4     73.9    1,444.4
Sept..............................................       (3)        62,515     ........     4,760     3,374    1,386     2,892.1     49.1    2,843.0
Oct...............................................       (3)        69,898     ........     6,541     4,483    2,058     2,166.5     92.6    2,073.9
Nov...............................................       (3)        60,665     ........     6,258     4,304    1,954     1,401.5     88.1    1,313.4
Dec...............................................       (3)        66,542     ........     6,393     4,377    2,016     6,142.0     83.3    6,058.7

1997:Jan..............................................       (3)        74,963     ........     7,383     4,948    2,435    11,286.0     91.4   11,194.6
Feb...............................................       (3)        70,808     ........     6,782     4,518    2,264     1,213.5     88.5    1,125.0
Mar...............................................       (3)        65,405     ........     7,438     4,933    2,505     1,530.7     99.6    1,431.1
Apr...............................................       (3)        67,556     ........     7,654     5,083    2,571     4,049.8    108.0    3,941.8
May...............................................       (3)        67,530     ........     7,211     4,827    2,384     2,084.9     97.3    1,987.6
June..............................................       (3)        65,063     ........     6,917     4,700    2,217     1,565.6     94.3    1,471.3

July..............................................       (.......     7,292     4,852    2,440    10,464.1     98.8   10,365.3
Aug...............................................       (.......     6,811     4,679    2,132     1,920.1     86.0    1,834.1
Sept..............................................       (.......     7,155     4,775    2,380     3,446.8     93.3    3,353.5
Oct...............................................       (.......     7,420     5,053    2,367     1,318.8     99.4    1,219.4
Nov...............................................       (.......     6,022     4,021    2,001     1,715.5     80.3    1,635.2
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\1\ Commercial and industrial failures only through 1983, excluding failures of banks, railroads, real estate, insurance, holding, and financial
companies, steamship lines, travel agencies, etc.
Data beginning 1984 are based on expanded coverage and new methodology and are therefore not generally comparable with earlier data.
Data for 1996 and 1997 are preliminary and subject to revision.
\2\ Failure rate per 10,000 listed enterprises.
\3\ Series discontinued in 1995.

Sources: Department of Commerce (Bureau of Economic Analysis) and The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation.