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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — With 2011 now half completed, the American
Bankruptcy Institute noticed the amount of U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings is
down from the total reported during the first six months of last year.

The institute discovered there were 709,303 filings from Jan.
1 through June 30, according to data from the National Bankruptcy Research
Center. ABI calculated that figure represented an 8-percent decrease from the
770,117 total consumer filings during the same period a year ago.

Looking specifically at June's total, ABI said the month's overall
consumer filing total of 119,768 represented a 5-percent decline from the
126,270 filings recorded in June of last year.

However, analysts pointed out the June 1 filings did
represent a 4-percent increase from the May consumer bankruptcy total of
114,803 filings. They also said the percentage of Chapter 13 filings for June
was 28 percent, a 1-percent increase from May.

Returning to how the first half of 2011 has unfolded, ABI executive
director Samuel Gerdano surmised that, "the drop in bankruptcies for the first
half of the year shows the continued efforts of consumers to reduce their
household debt and the overall pull back in consumer credit."