The Financial Times of the United Kingdom reported on the 7th that due to high interest rates and weakening consumer demand, the number of corporate bankruptcy protection applications in the USA reached a 14-year high in 2024. The report cites data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, stating that from January 1 to December 23, 2024, at least 686 companies with a certain scale of assets and liabilities that the company tracked announced bankruptcy, an increase of 8% year-on-year. The previous year with a higher number of bankruptcies for such companies was 2010, following the international financial crisis. The data also shows that at least 30 US companies announced bankruptcy in 2024 with debts as high as 1 billion dollars.