Washington ? Bankruptcy filings jumped to a record high last year in a tepid economy, gaining 5.7 percent over 2001, according to data released Friday.

The record-setting pace of new personal bankruptcies is expected to continue this year, said Samuel Gerdano, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute, a group of bankruptcy judges, lawyers and experts.

“With historically high levels of consumer debt and many … companies in financial distress, we expect 2003 to continue this pace,” he said.

The data compiled by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts show that new bankruptcy filings in 2002 totaled 1,577,651, up 5.7 percent from 1,492,129 in 2001 — the year in which the economy slid into recession.

While total filings rose last year, the number of new business bankruptcies actually fell by around 1,500: to 38,540 from 40,099 in 2001.

As is normally the case, most bankruptcy filings were by individuals. They increased to 1,539,111 last year from 1,452,030.

Consumer debt has reached record levels in recent years. But data released recently by the Federal Reserve showed consumers became more cautious users of credit last year, expanding their borrowing at the slowest pace in a decade.

The rise in credit card and other revolving debt was the smallest increase since the Fed began keeping records in 1968.