ALEXANDRIA, Va. — For the first time since 2005, bankruptcy filings jumped past the 1 million mark during the first three calendar quarters of a year, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Relying on data on from the National Bankruptcy Research Center, ABI reported late last week that consumer bankruptcies totaled 1,046,449 filings through the first nine months of 2009, or Jan. 1-Sept. 30.  

The filings for the first three-quarters of 2009 were the highest total since the 1,350,360 consumer filings through the first nine months of 2005.

"Bankruptcy filings continue to climb as consumers look to shelter themselves from the effects of rising unemployment rates and housing debt," said Samuel Gerdano ABI's executive director.

"The consumer filing total through the first nine months is consistent with our expectation that consumer bankruptcies will top 1.4 million in 2009," he added.