Despite a drop in US bankruptcies during the previous quarter, 137,698 personal bankruptcies were filed by Americans during June 2010.
This is a clear indication that many Americans are still struggling under the fall out of the GFC.
As available credit sources dissipate people who require access to credit to continue meeting their financial obligations have no other option but to declare insolvency.
Bankruptcy filings in July 2010 were also up 9 per cent compared with the same month a year ago, and 2010 is on pace to record the largest number of consumer-bankruptcy filings in five years.
Filings topped 1.4 million last year, the most since Congress revamped bankruptcy laws in 2005 to make it more difficult for consumers to shed debt.
So far this year there have been nearly 908,000 personal-bankruptcy filings, representing roughly one in every 125 US households. At this point last year there were about 802,000 filings.
The increase in personal filings has cast doubt on whether the 2005 bankruptcy-law change has been effective. Filings declined drastically in 2006 but resumed their increase in following years.