The recession has boosted business at Indiana's pawn shops as people shed possessions -- particularly electronics -- to get cash to pay bills.

Ace Pawn Shop manager Chris Banul says business is up and he's seeing more high-end items brought to the Bloomington shop for collateral, or sold outright, as the economy has worsened.

He's getting a lot of expensive video game systems as well as many flat-screen televisions.

Greg Engstrom is president of the Indiana Pawnbrokers Association. He estimates that pawn business statewide is up about 25 percent over the past two years.

That increase was initially caused by the sharp rise in gasoline prices, which he said caused low- and middle-income workers to begin pawning valuables to fill their gas tanks.

Now he says it has spread beyond traditional pawn customers to people from all income levels who need to sell possessions to make money to pay bills.