The number of bankruptcy cases filed in Hawaii fell in October for the seventh consecutive month, setting the stage for the first annual decline in filings since 2006.

There were 260 bankruptcy cases filed last month, 12.5 percent fewer than in October 2010. There were 2,873 bankruptcy cases filed through the first 10 months of the year, down 13.4 percent from the same period last year.

Bankruptcies began climbing in 2007, coinciding with the start of the economic downturn that caused many businesses to fail and pushed the unemployment rate to a 30-year high. Bankruptcies peaked in 2010 with 3,954 cases filed.