ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Bankruptcy filings in August again increased over the same month in the prior year. However, on the brighter side, the number of filings was a decline from July.

More specifically, the American Bankruptcy Institution reported 119,874 consumer bankruptcy filings in August, representing a 24-percent increase over last year's monthly total.

When compared to July of this year, however, consumer filings represented a 5-percent decrease.

Chapter 13 filings constituted 28.3 percent of all consumer cases in August, unchanged from the July rate.

"Consumers continue to turn to bankruptcy as a shield from the sustained financial pressures of today's economy," said Samuel Gerdano, ABI executive director.

"As a result, we expect consumer filings to top 1.4 million this year," he continued.

ABI relies on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center for bankruptcy analysis.