MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Bankruptcy filings in Wisconsin fell to their lowest level in nine years last year as an improving economy and jobs climate helped more consumers keep up with their debts.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court data show there were more than 16,800 bankruptcy petitions of all types filed in Wisconsin in 2016. That was down almost 9 percent from 2015, and the fewest since more than 15,600 in 2007.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that bankruptcy filings peaked in Wisconsin at nearly 30,000 in 2010 and have been declining ever since as the economy slowly has healed from the Great Recession.

The 9 percent reduction in bankruptcy filings in Wisconsin last year was better than the overall national average reduction of 6 percent, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.