The American Bankruptcy Institute noticed that filings slowed as the third quarter closed.

According to data provided by Epiq Systems, total U.S. bankruptcy filings totaled 57,569 in September, down 4 percent from last September’s figure of 60,050.

Officials pointed out the 54,786 consumer filings in September also represented a 4-percent decrease from the September 2017 consumer total of 57,110.

Commercial Chapter 11 filings totaled 308 in September, a 31-percent decline year-over year. Overall business filings dipped to 2,783 cases in September, a 5-percent drop from last September’s total of 2,940 filings.

“Struggling businesses and consumers faced with increasing interest rates and global challenges may avoid bankruptcy due to high filing costs,” ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano said. “The recommendations of ABI’s Chapter 11 Commission and the ongoing efforts of the Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy provide paths to making bankruptcy more accessible for distressed businesses and households.”

Looking at data from the first nine months of the year, ABI shared that total U.S. bankruptcy filings fell 2 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Through three quarters of 2018, the courts saw 576,610 filings, down from 589,252 a year earlier.

The 548,361 total noncommercial filings through the first three quarters of 2018 also represented a 2-percent drop from the noncommercial filing total of 559,958 through the first three quarters of 2017.

Commercial bankruptcy filings during the first nine months of the year decreased 4 percent to 28,249 from the 29,294 filings during the same period in 2017. Commercial chapter 11 filings also decreased during the first nine months of 2018 as the 3,796 filings represented a 12-percent drop from the 4,306 chapter 11 filings during the first nine months of 2017.

ABI went on to mention the average nationwide per capita bankruptcy filing rate for the first nine calendar months of 2018 decreased slightly to 2.48 (total filings per 1,000 population) from the 2.49 rate for the first eight months of the year.

The average daily filing total in September 2018 was 3,030, a 1-percent increase from the 3,002 total daily filings registered in September of last year.

States with the highest per capita filing rates (total filings per 1,000 population) through the first nine months of 2018 were:

1. Alabama (5.68)

2. Tennessee (5.52)

3. Georgia (4.60)

4. Mississippi (4.28)

5. Illinois (3.75)

ABI has partnered with Epiq Systems, a leading 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.