More South Floridians filed for bankruptcy in October than in any month this year.

The 1,972 consumer bankruptcy filings marked a 12 percent increase over the previous high of 1,758 filings in September. Filings increased 60 percent from October 2007, according to bankruptcy court statistics. There were 820 personal bankruptcy cases in Miami-Dade County, 641 in Broward and 511 in Palm Beach filed last month.

Meanwhile, 142 businesses sought refuge in bankruptcy in October. That was below this year's peak of 159 in January but almost double the 72 that filed a year ago; 50 businesses filed in Miami-Dade, 47 in Broward and 45 in Palm Beach.

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