TOKYO, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Corporate bankruptcies in Japan in July exceeded 1,000 for the second straight month as labor shortages and rising prices continued to squeeze smaller businesses, local media reported Monday, citing a credit research company survey.
According to Tokyo Shoko Research, 1,028 businesses went under in July, up 6.9 percent from a year earlier, with total liabilities surging 41.4 percent to 236.3 billion yen (about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars), Kyodo News reported.
Bankruptcies attributed to labor shortages hit a record 63 cases, including 36 caused by rising personnel costs, double the figure a year earlier, while those tied to rising prices totaled 93 cases, the most since 2022, as a weaker yen pushed up costs for materials and raw materials, the report said.
By industry, the services sector recorded the largest number of bankruptcies at 342 cases, while the information and communications sector saw bankruptcies jump 62.5 percent, with the tally including software-related companies affected by the growing use of artificial intelligence.
Small companies with liabilities of less than 100 million yen accounted for nearly 80 percent of the total number of bankruptcies. ■
