The number of Americans filing for bankruptcy dropped 6% in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the previous year, according to data from the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and the National Bankruptcy Research Center.
Filings in the first three months of 2011 dropped to 340,012, down from 363,215 filings recorded in the first quarter of 2010.
Consumer bankruptcy filings had been climbing steadily since 2007, when the U.S. fell into a recession that has left millions of Americans unemployed.
But the sharp increase in bankruptcy levels in recent years might be leveling off, and maybe even decrease.
"Though bankruptcy filings are still elevated, consumers continue to take steps to reduce debt levels and shore up their finances," ABI Executive Director Samuel Gerdano said in a statement. "We now expect that filings will dip below the 1.5 million filings recorded last year."
Congress amended the Bankruptcy Code in 2005, making it harder for Americans to file and sparking a rush to file by October of 2005, when the amendments kicked in. In 2005, bankruptcy filings totaled more than 2 million.
