New Hampshire closed out another year with a record low number of bankruptcies, but 2022 ended on a sour note — not the best sign for the new year.

Here is the good news at least compared to years in the past: Some 658 Granite State individuals and businesses filed for bankruptcy last year. That’s nearly 10 percent fewer than 2021, but the 2021 total was over 30 percent lower than 2020’s, which was 40 percent lower than 2019. For further context, there were 5,123 filings in 2009, at the height of the previous recession.

December, however, was a step backward.

There were 64 filings last month, nearly 40 percent more than the previous December, when there was a record low 46, and more than 25 percent higher than November, when there were 51, the same as November 2021.

Still, the average number of monthly bankruptcy filings for all of 2022 was 54 compared to 61 in 2021 and 88 in 2020.

Business filings were also up, as nine filings came with business-related debt, compared to five in November, and four businesses filed for protection, although three of them — Zyacorp Inc., the Cinemagic theater chain and its affiliates — are related. Only one business filed directly in November and none did so in October. — BOB SANDERS