Bankruptcy filings fell in August
After remaining flat in July, the national rate of bankruptcy filings continued to drop again in August.
The national rate declined by a seasonally adjusted 7 percent last month.
According to the latest monthly report from the National Bankruptcy Research Center, there were about 10,000 fewer filings in August, as the total fell to less than 130,000. However, the level of bankruptcies is still considerably higher than last year's total. On a year-by-year basis, filings in August 2010 were 6 percent higher than they were for the same period last year.
Similarly, cases through August were 12 percent higher than the first eight months of 2009. For personal filings, Chapter 7 cases still comprised 75 percent of the total, while the rest were under Chapter 13. The states with the highest rates of Chapter 13 filings are along the Gulf Coast, the report said. More than two-thirds of all bankruptcies in Louisiana are under this type of protection, as are about half in Texas and Alabama.
Many consumers have been avoiding bankruptcy in recent months by reducing their credit spending and paying down more of their debt instead.
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