The personal bankruptcy filings in the United States increased by 30 percent to a record high last year, according to a report by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on Friday.

The report said that bankruptcy petitions filed in federal courts reached a record high of 2,039,214 in 2005, up sharply from 1,563,145 in 2004.

In the final quarter of the last year, bankruptcy filings under Chapter 7 ballooned to 560,654 compared to 254,518 in the same quarter of 2004.

The sharp increase of U.S. personal bankruptcy filings resulted mainly from a new law which took effect on October 17, 2005, and made it more difficult for Americans to erase credit card and other debts in bankruptcy. Many financially strained U.S. families rushed to file for bankruptcy before the new law took effect.

Source: Xinhua