U.S. bankruptcies jump 8 percent in Oct.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- The number of U.S. bankruptcy filings has taken a sharp jump with those filing showing far more debt than in the past, records indicate.

New bankruptcy cases rose 8 percent between September and October, with 108,595 cases filed, surpassing 100,000 in a month for the first time since bankruptcy laws were tightened in 2005, The New York Times reported Sunday.

As well as more filings, the amounts owed listed on them reveals much higher credit card debt, which bankruptcy attorneys say is often the result of attempts by consumers to keep current on mortgages that -- thanks to falling housing values -- now exceed the value of their homes.

"A credit crunch can drive people into bankruptcy today rather than later as sources of lending dry up," Robert Lawless, a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, told the Times. "With the consumer credit tightening and the economy in a nosedive, this pop could just be the beginning of a long-term rise in the bankruptcy filing rate to levels that are even higher than we had before the 2005 bankruptcy law."