Tokyo, Oct. 8 (Jiji Press)–The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan caused by labor shortages rose 17 pct in the fiscal first half ended last month from a year before to 240, the highest since comparable data became available in fiscal 2013, Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd., a research firm, said Thursday. Of them, failures stemming from soaring labor costs climbed by about 1.7-fold to 130. About 60 pct of bankruptcies caused by labor shortages occurred at businesses with a capital of less than 10 million yen. “Pressure to raise wages weighed on the finances of small and midsize companies,” a Tokyo Shoko Research official said. The total number of bankruptcies rose 3.8 pct to 5,373, a 13-year high for the fiscal first-half period. The data covered failures with liabilities of at least 10 million yen. Failures caused by rising prices rose 17.8 pct to 436, while those related to the failure to find a successor jumped to 23.4 pct to a record high of 263. By industry, services firms, including restaurants and hotels, made up the most of the bankruptcies, at 1,828, up 3.7 pct. Total liabilities left by bankruptcies grew 23.5 pct to 856,169 million yen because of an increase in large-scale bankruptcies including the failure of Zentoshin, a credit card payment processing service firm. In September alone, the total number of bankruptcies fell 4.8 pct to 831. Liabilities involved dropped 3.1 pct to 108,884 million yen. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
