As summer has gone along, bankruptcy filings are on the rise. The American Bankruptcy Institute highlighted a double-digit sequential rise in total filings during August as compared to the previous month.

According to data provided by Epiq Systems, total U.S. filings came in at 68,117 in August, up 11 percent from the July total of 61,403. The 64,862 consumer filings in August also represented an 11 percent increase from the previous month’s consumer total of 58,517.

Commercial Chapter 11 filings totaled 426 in August, a 29-percent increase over July’s total of 331 filings. Overall business filings also increased as the 3,255 filings were 13 percent more than July’s total of 2,886 filings.

“Households and businesses that are sinking in debt can find a financial lifeline through bankruptcy,” ABI executive director Samuel  Gerdano said.

“As the bankruptcy code nears 40 years in age, the recommendations of ABI’s Chapter 11 Commission, along with the ongoing efforts of the Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy, aim to make bankruptcy more accessible for struggling businesses and families.”

Officials tabulated that commercial chapter 11 filings were up 16 percent from last August’s 368 filings, and total commercial filings registered a minor increase of 0.1 percent over the 3,251 filings in August of last year.

Total U.S. bankruptcy filings registered a minor decrease in August compared to the same month a year ago. The 68,117 filings this year were one percent less than last August’s 68,551.

Consumer filings were also down by a percent in August 2017 over last year’s consumer filing total of 65,300.

The average nationwide per capita bankruptcy-filing rate in August was 2.55 (total filings per 1,000 per population), a slight increase from the filing rate of 2.54 during the first seven months of the year.

Average total filings per day in August were 2,962, a percent decrease from the 2,980 total daily filings in August 2016.

States with the highest per capita filing rates (total filings per 1,000 population) in August were:

1. Alabama (5.82)

2. Tennessee (5.66)

3. Georgia (4.75)

4. Mississippi (4.16)

5. Utah (4.12)

ABI has partnered with Epiq Systems, a provider of managed technology for the global legal profession, in order to provide the most current bankruptcy filing data for analysts, researchers and members of the news media.