Corporate bankruptcies rose for the 11th month in a row in April as companies struggled to obtain funds, indicating unemployment may increase.

Bankruptcies climbed 9.4 percent from a year earlier to 1,329 cases, Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. said Wednesday.

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa said last week that funding conditions for companies remain "severe." The jobless rate, which advanced at the fastest pace in four decades in March, will probably rise further as more companies go out of business, weighing on consumer spending and prolonging the recession.

"Companies, especially small ones, are still having trouble securing funds because of weak demand," said Azusa Kato, an economist at BNP Paribas in Tokyo. "The major concern for increasing bankruptcies is higher unemployment, which could sap consumers' ability to support the economy."

Chuo Corp., a yarn maker, and Life Stage Co., a condominium developer, filed for bankruptcy last month, taking the number of publicly traded firms that failed to 16 this year. A record 33 companies went bust in 2008.

"As profits worsened, we couldn't escape from tight funding conditions" even after cutting jobs and wages, Chuo said in a statement.

The companies that went out of business last month employed 11,537 workers. Japan's unemployment rate climbed to 4.8 percent in March from 4.4 percent in February, the biggest increase since 1967.

Prime Minister Taro Aso plans to spend ¥3 trillion from his ¥15.4 trillion stimulus package unveiled last month on measures that include financial support for small and midsize companies, which employ 70 percent of Japan's workforce.