Dun & Bradstreet Corp., a Wilton, Conn.-based financial information provider, said that 217 companies called it quits during the first six months of 1996, compared with 151 in the year-earlier period.

At the same time, Hawaii's business failures were smaller this year. The local failings involved debts of $31.5 million, a 25.4 percent decrease from $42.2 million in the first half of 1995, Dun & Bradstreet said.

The company said its business failure data covers all companies that shut down due to bankruptcy, foreclosure or receivership. The figures also include companies that voluntarily closed leaving unpaid bills.

The study noted that Hawaii's rate of increase in business failures was the fifth highest in the nation, following Delaware where business failures jumped 106.3 percent; Colorado, up 68.6 percent; Arkansas, 64.4 percent; and Tennessee, 44.4 percent.

Nationwide, business failures grew 6.3 percent during the first half to 38,866 from 36,560 during the same period last year, Dun & Bradstreet said.

Paul Brewbaker, chief economist at the Bank of Hawaii, said that business failure statistics tend to reflect past economic activity. Hawaii's economy has been sluggish in recent years.

With recent improvements in the isle's tourism economy, Brewbaker said he doesn't expect business failures to improve until next year.

"We think we're at the tail end of the increase in failures but we're still seeing the fallout from this," he said.

Gayle Lau, assistant U.S. Trustee in Honolulu, said he sees a similar pattern in business bankruptcies.

He said that during the first half this year, a total of 88 local businesses filed for bankruptcy protection, either in the form of Chapter 11 reorganization, Chapter 7 liquidation or Chapter 13 wage-earner plan bankruptcy.

That's up nearly 16 percent from 76 filings in the year-earlier half, Lau said.

"It's kind of a sobering trend," he said.