Locksmiths NAICS 561622

Mar 25, 2025 - Commercial Bankruptcy Filings Fall

• Commercial bankruptcy filings, a demand indicator for business-related lock-changing services, dropped 42% in February 2025 year over year, according to Epiq AACER. The total number of commercial Chapter 11 bankruptcies filed in February 2025 was 481, compared to 826 filings a year ago. The total commercial filings declined 16% year over year to 2,152 commercial filings. Small business filings, captured as Subchapter V elections within Chapter 11, fell 12% in February year over year. According to Epiq AACER VP Michael Hunter, “The overall filing volume trend waned in February, primarily due to fewer filing days and a typical trend of filings after tax return season.”
• According to the Jobber Home Service Economic Report released in February 2025, volatile consumer demand, a recovering housing market, and accelerating digital payment adoption are trends for home service businesses such as cleaners, landscapers, locksmiths, and HVAC technicians. The report noted that 2024 was marked by increased volatility across all Home Service segments. Median revenue growth for service providers showed some upward movement during Q3 and Q4, compared to a year ago, attributed to higher prices. “While revenue dipped at times, the latter half of the year showed improvement,” noted the report. The outlook for the home services sector in 2025 is promising as inflation stabilizes, consumer demand grows, and the job market remains strong, according to the Jobber report. Consumers continue to increase their adoption of digital payments. The report noted that digital payments were about 47% of total payments in Q4 2024 with the expectation to reach 50% in 2025.

• Locksmiths will have to monitor minimum wage changes in 2025, as 21 states and 50 local jurisdictions increased their minimum wages, according to Chain Store Age. States with the highest minimum wage in the US are Washington ($16.66 per hour), California ($16.50), and New York ($16.50). Nearly 30 cities in California and seven towns in Washington will raise minimum wages in 2025, with Tukwila, Washington, offering the highest minimum hourly wage in the US at $21.10. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the minimum wage change will affect more than $9 million workers and raise pay by a combined $5.7 billion. Unchanged since 2009, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, and some 20 states, primarily located in the South and the Midwest, use the federal minimum as their wage floor.
• According to a report in CFO Dive, consumer confidence levels, an indicator of discretionary spending, have fallen due to consumer anxiety about tariff effects and economic uncertainty. The consumer sentiment index from the University of Michigan dropped 11% in March 2025, marking the third straight month of declines and hitting the lowest level since November 2022. In addition, the Conference Board index of consumer sentiment in February 2025 marked the biggest decline since August 2021 and the third straight month of declines. According to Stephanie Guichard, senior economist for global indicators at the Conference Board, “There was a sharp increase in the mentions of trade and tariffs, back to a level unseen since 2019. Most notably, comments on the current administration and its policies dominated the responses.”