Housing foreclosures are rising. The national unemployment rate refuses to fall below 9 percent. And all across the country, people are watching as the value of their mutual funds take a big hit.

You'd think that with all of this bad news, the number of people filing for personal bankruptcy protection would soar. But the opposite is actually happening.

According to a recent story in the blog Real Time Economics, the number of consumer bankruptcy filings has been falling this year. That number, in fact, is on pace to be lower than it was in 2010.

According to the story, the number of consumer bankruptcies dropped 17 percent in September when compared to the same month one year earlier. In total, the number of such bankruptcy filings dropped to 108,517 in the month. That figure also represents a drop of 4 percent from the number of consumers who filed for personal bankruptcy protection in August.

There are some good reasons for this fall. Fort Lauderdale bankruptcy attorneys have noticed that many consumers are scaling back on their spending. They're worried about losing their jobs so are cutting back on unnecessary expenses. This naturally results in lower credit-card bills. By lowering these bills, consumers are reducing the chances of becoming overwhelmed by high-interest-rate consumer debt.

There's also the matter of banks and other financial institutions continuing to write off a large portion of their debts. These lenders are aware that many consumers will never be able to pay them back everything that they owe. Rather than force these consumers into bankruptcy, these financial institutions are dropping a portion of the debt that is owed.

Source: Real Time Economics "Personal Bankruptcies Decline" Oct. 4, 2011