ALEXANRIA, Va. — American Bankruptcy Institute officials determined this week that October filings represented a slight rise from the previous month, but a decline from the year-ago period.

Relying on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center, the institute reported U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings totaled 132,173 nationwide during October. It marked a 1.4-percent increase over the 130,329 total consumer filings recorded in September.

However, that latest figure constituted a 2.75-percent decrease from the filing amount recorded in October 2009, which was 135,913.

Also, ABI noted that Chapter 13 filings constituted 29.7 percent of all consumer cases in October, a slight decrease from the previous month.

"As the issues of unemployment and economic stress weigh heavily on the elections, consumers continue to seek the financial shelter of bankruptcy," stated ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano.

"We anticipate that there will be nearly 1.6 million consumer bankruptcy filings by year end," Gerdano added.