ALEXANDRIA, Va. — American Bankruptcy Institute officials spotted a positive trend developing in the first quarter. Consumer bankruptcies for the first quarter of 2011 decreased 6 percent nationwide from the same time period last year.

ABI came to that assertion by relying on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center.

The institute explained the data showed that the overall consumer filing total for the first three months of this year reached 340,012, down from the 363,215 consumer filings recorded for the first quarter of 2010.

A month-by-month look at the data indicated the overall consumer filing total for March reached 144,657, up from the 102,686 consumer filings recorded in February. Though an increase from the previous month, officials calculated the March consumer bankruptcy total represents a 3-percent decrease from the 149,268 filings recorded in March of last year.

ABI pointed out Chapter 13 filings constituted 26 percent of all consumer cases in March, a slight decrease from February.

"Though bankruptcy filings are still elevated, consumers continue to take steps to reduce debt levels and shore up their finances," stated ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano.

"As a result, we now expect that consumer bankruptcy filings will dip below the 1.5 million filings recorded last year," Gerdano added.