Consumer bankruptcy filings jump vs year ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings rose 39.2 percent in November from a year earlier but were down slightly from October, the American Bankruptcy Institute said on Wednesday.

The bankruptcy group, which used data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center, said there were 99,925 consumer bankruptcy filings in November, down from October's 106,266.

Chapter 13 filings made up 32.7 percent of all consumer cases in November, a slight increase from October, the group said.

Chapter 13 is available to individuals with regular income whose debts do not exceed specific amounts. It is typically used to budget some of the debtor's future earnings under a plan through which unsecured creditors are paid in whole or in part, the bankruptcy institute said.

(Reporting by Caroline Humer; editing by John Wallace)