Not only are more people losing their jobs, but they’re losing their houses, too.

In September, 81,312 homes were lost to foreclosure according to RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosed properties. CNN Money reports that a total of more than 851,000 homes have been repossessed by lenders since August 2007.

In September, another 265,968 troubled borrowers received foreclosure filings in the form of default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions – that’s one out of every 475 U.S. households.

The numbers are down 12% from the record high number of filings in August, but it’s up 21% from September of 2007.

What’s helped a bit is that some states have relaxed housing laws which have slowed the foreclosure filings.

"We have never seen a foreclosure cycle like this one before," said RealtyTrac Senior Vice President Rick Sharga. Sure, there have been previous times of elevated foreclosure rates, but, "in this cycle, we have foreclosure problems that have caused an economic downturn."

Reuters notes that the states that were once at the top of the housing boom are now seeing the most foreclosures – including Nevada, Florida and California. Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana and Colorado were among the top ten states with the highest foreclosure rates in September.

The Wall Street Journal says the Bush administration is weighing an estimated $40 billion proposal to help forestall foreclosures.

At a Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair is expected to suggest the government give banks a financial incentive to turn troubled loans into more-affordable mortgages. Under the proposal, the government would share in any future losses on the new loans with lenders.

In other notable business news today:

-Wall Street saw erratic trading as investors grew nervous that new corporate forecasts and big increases in U.S. jobless claims are further signs of a weakening economy.

-Goldman Sachs plans to cut 10% of its total staff, or almost 3,300 jobs, Reuters reports. The investment bank had 32,569 employees worldwide at the end of August.

-General Motors is suspending matching payments to employee 401K plans as of November 1. A company spokesman said GM could reinstate matching payments if business conditions improve. The No. 1 U.S. automaker has lost $51 billion over the past three years.

-Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress today that the current global financial crisis is a "once-in-a-century credit tsunami" that nobody anticipated.

You can listen to the congressional hearing in which Greenspan and other financial officials are testifying by clicking here.