April Fools Day brought in more than pranks and notions of springtime: the number of official federal bankruptcies was reported to have increased. There were over 158,000 bankruptcy filings in March, a rise of 35% over February, 2010. Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy numbers in Boston are not available as of this posting, but antidotal evidence is that the national numbers are consistent with local numbers. The numbers for March are considered to be the highest monthly filings since Congress overhauled the Federal Bankruptcy laws, effective October,2005.