German Company Insolvencies Jump 12.3% In August

FRANKFURT -- German company insolvencies continued to increase in August and the negative trend isn't expected to abate, which may lead to more job cuts in the months ahead.

The Federal Statistics Office said Friday that company insolvencies jumped 12.3% from August 2008; household insolvencies edged up 0.3% over that period.

German insolvency courts reported 12,874 insolvencies in August 2009--2,619 of which referred to companies and 7,858 to consumers.

In January-August, company insolvencies were up 15.5% from the same period in 2008; consumer insolvencies declined 1.1%, official data showed.