Bankruptcies Up 40 Percent, Trend Expected To Carry Over Into 2008

[Purveyor]

Consumer and business bankruptcy filings for the first three quarters of the year have eclipsed those reached for all of 2006, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts reported Monday.

The 623,399 total U.S. Bankruptcies filed through Sept. 30 represented a 40.2 percent increase over the 444,789 cases filed over the same period in 2006.

Filings by individuals or households with consumer debt increased 40.2 percent to 603,139 for the nine-month period ending Sept. 30. That's up from 430,364 filings during the same period in 2006.

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"Bankruptcies are up sharply from a year ago this period, reflecting a growing vulnerability in household economics," Samuel J. Gerdano, executive director of the Alexandria, Va.-based American Bankruptcy Institute, says in a news release. "The continued stress on the housing market will likely fuel a continuation of this trend into 2008."

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