Tuesday's Number Quarterly Recap

This past Tuesday’s Number brought us to the end of the third quarter, so it’s time to take a look at our progress.

I'm a little later with this post than I said I would be, and than I had hoped to be, but we were on vacation and it was hard to focus on writing after spending long days surrounded by the beauty that blankets New York's Adirondack Mountains during peak foliage season. If you ever have the opportunity to visit at this time of year, I highly recommend it. 

Here are the totals for the quarter: 

• Judgments:$3,660,766, up $370,314 
• Satisfied judgments: $ 174,727, up $66,858 
• Bankruptcies: $311,948, down $9,713 
• Grand total: $3,797,987, up from $293,743

And the year to date numbers:

• Judgments: $12,132,206 
• Satisfied judgments: $443,104 
• Bankruptcies: $1,094,508

How does this quarter compare to the 2nd quarter?

• Total filings were up, but only by 19.  Judgments were up 22 and satisfied judgments were also up, by five; bankruptcies were down by eight.  
• Satisfied judgments and bankruptcies are going in the right direction – judgments, not so much. 
• Satisfied judgment dollars were higher this quarter than any time since Q4 2014, which is a good sign. Bankruptcies continue to trend lower, which is also a good sign.

I would have preferred to see an improvement in all three buckets this quarter, but I’ll take two out of three.  What does make me feel a little better about the direction we’re going is how this year compares to last year; it’s a measure of success in the retail and food industries, and it gives us a good look here as well:

• Judgment dollars are down by 45%
• Satisfied judgment dollars are up by 51%
• Bankruptcy dollars are down by 28%
• Total filing dollars are down by 47%
• Total filings are down by a third.

Is the improvement because of the Affordable Care Act and more people having insurance?  A result of the the improved economy? Simply because people are being more responsible? We may never know for sure - but these are good signs for our community and for the hospitals and medical professionals that provide us with care, and jobs.

I'll continue to be optimistic as we go into the last quarter.