Corporate bankruptcies declined 5.8 percent in January from a year earlier to 1,358 for the first decrease in 15 months, but the failed firms' liabilities jumped 60.6 percent to 969.65 billion yen, a private research institute said Thursday.

The value of liabilities was a postwar record high for January, easily breaking the previous record of 752.27 billion yen registered in January 1999, Teikoku Databank said.

No listed companies went bankrupt last month for the first time in three months, according to the survey, which covered corporate bankruptcies with liabilities of 10 million yen or more.

There were 967 recession-induced bankruptcies, down 8 percent from a year earlier for the first fall in 15 months. But the ratio of recession-caused failures to the total was high at 71.2 percent, remaining above the 70 percent line for the 18th consecutive month.

The bankruptcy data "confirm the actual states of deflation and credit crunch," Teikoku Databank said.

The firm said more firms are experiencing financial problems due to sluggish personal consumption, declining public works expenditure, heightened curbs on exports and the adverse effects of structural problems on economic stimulus measures.

It said the number of bankruptcies is expected to increase up to and after the March 31 end of fiscal 2000.

By industry, 390 construction companies failed in January, down 9.7 percent from a year earlier; 223 manufacturers folded, down 16.2 percent; and 42 real estate companies went under, down 10.6 percent. Failures of wholesalers rose 7.9 percent to 247.

In the April 2000-January 2001 period, there were 15,775 corporate bankruptcies leaving liabilities totaling 22.499 trillion yen, already surpassing the postwar annual record high of 15.182 trillion yen registered in fiscal 1998, Teikoku Databank said.

The total number of bankruptcies for fiscal 2000 is expected to reach about 19,000, the third-highest total since the war, it said.