(The Center Square) – Total U.S. bankruptcy filings climbed in the last year, but remain well below pre-pandemic levels, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Courts.

U.S. Courts reported bankruptcies increased 2 percent to 403,273 new cases in the 12-month period that ended March 31, 2023. That's compared with 395,373 cases in the previous year.

But new bankruptcy cases remain sharply lower than before the start of the  pandemic. 

In 2020, there were 764,282 bankruptcy filings. And there were 772,646 filings in 2019. 

"This year’s 12-month filing total for the quarter ending March 31 is slightly more than half of the total reported in March 2020, when the pandemic disrupted the U.S. economy," according to U.S. Courts.

Business filings increased 9.9 percent from 13,160 in March 2022 to 14,467 in the most recent report. Non-business filings increased 1.7 percent, from 382,213 in March 2022 to 388,806 in March 2023.

The most common types of filings for March 2023 were Chapter 7 (231,200) and Chapter 13 (166,449). Chapter 11 (5,371) and Chapter 12 (148) were less common.