ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Boosting claims of an expected year-over-year decline for all of 2011, the American Bankruptcy Institute determined U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings through the first nine months of the year dropped by double digits compared to the same time frame a year ago.

Relying on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center, ABI said there were 1,044,722 nationwide bankruptcy filings between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, a 10-percent decrease from the 1,165,172 total consumer filings during the same period a year ago.

Looking at just September's data, the institute discovered consumer bankruptcies decreased 17 percent nationwide from the same month last year. The overall consumer filing total for September reached 108,517 cases, down from the 130,329 consumer filings recorded in September 2010.

ABI also pointed out September's level represented a 4-percent decrease from August. The institute noted August contained 113,432 filings, a slight change that could be the result of one less day in the month.

Officials added the percentage of Chapter 13 filings for September was 30 percent, a 1-percent increase from August.

"The trend of declining filings has been consistent with consumers continuing to reign in their spending, household debt and an overall pull back in consumer credit," explained ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano.

"Total consumer filings for 2011 will be less than 2010," Gerdano insisted.