The number of bankruptcy petitions filed last month in Puerto Rico was 19 percent below the same month last year, Boletín de Puerto Rico revealed Friday. The preliminary numbers show that so far this year, the number of filings on record is 9 percent lower than those on record for the same 11-month period in 2010.

The island’s bankruptcy rate held on to its seventh consecutive monthly decline in October, when a total of 1,077 cases were submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The figure represents 90 fewer filings and an 8.35 percent drop in comparison to the same month last year, research firm Boletín de Puerto Rico reported.

While the month of August saw a 4 percent drop in the number of bankruptcy cases filed, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Puerto Rico received a whopping 245 petitions during the last day of the month, local research firm Boletín de Puerto Rico reported Friday.

Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy levels continued their downward trend last month, when the total number of companies and individuals who turned to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for help was reduced by 30 percent in comparison to the same month in 2010.