The long downward trend in Hawaii bankruptcies may be over.

For the first time in more than 4-1/2 years, the number of monthly filings in the state rose from the comparable period a year ago, according to new data from U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Hawaii.

In October, statewide filings edged up 2.3 percent to 136 from 133 in the same month a year earlier. The slight uptick ended a streak of 54 straight months that bankruptcies had been flat or down from the year-earlier period.

“I don’t know if it’s the beginning of a trend, but I continually hear from and see people who are in financial distress,” Honolulu bankruptcy attorney Ed Magauran said Wednesday. “There are no lack of phone calls from people who need debt relief. It’s interesting the numbers are up. Only time will tell if the number of filings will continue to increase.”

Magauran said that just because the state as a whole is doing better now, that doesn’t mean everybody is seeing improvement in their financial situation.

“All boats don’t rise (in good times),” he said. “A lot of people are swept out with the tide.”

“Let’s face it, 90 percent of the population are living at or near paycheck to paycheck,” he added. “We have some of the highest monthly mortgage payments in the country. We have people working one, two, three jobs to service their mortgages, their rents, their car loans and their credit card debt. We are fortunate in that tourism is up and many people who work in Hawaii work in tourist-related jobs. But very few of them are getting ahead in this day and age. For the average person, staying afloat is good. Not getting further behind is good. We shouldn’t live in that kind of situation. In an ideal world, everybody would be saving money.”

Despite last month’s rise in bankruptcies, the number of filings is on pace to represent the lowest annual total since 1,381 were filed in 2007. Through the first 10 months of this year, there were 1,327 filings statewide, an average of nearly 133 a month. At that pace Hawaii is on track this year to see about 1,596 filings.

Honolulu County was the only county last month that saw bankruptcies increase. There were 91 filed in the county compared with 79 in the year-earlier period. Elsewhere, Hawaii County bankruptcies fell to 15 from 20 and Maui filings declined to 23 from 27. Kauai filings remained at seven.

The most common type of bankruptcy — Chapter 7 liquidation — fell 12 percent last month to 88 from 100 a year ago.

However, Chapter 13 filings, which allow individuals with regular sources of income to set up plans to pay creditors over time, soared 45.2 percent to 45 from 31. And Chapter 11 filings, which allow businesses to reorganize, rose 50 percent to three from two .