US Bank Profits Up 21 Percent

Less money set aside to cover losses and more loans made.

U.S. banks posted their third-best quarter since the financial crisis as they set aside less money to cover losses and made more loans, in an encouraging sign for the economy.

In its quarterly report on the nation's banking system, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday that the nation's 7,246 banks and thrifts posted a profit of $34.5 billion in the April-June period, up 21%, or $5.9 billion, from the same quarter a year earlier. It was the 10th straight profitable quarter for the industry, which has been emerging from the financial crisis of nearly four years ago.

"The industry continues to recover at a gradual, but steady pace," Martin Gruenberg, the agency's acting chairman, said in prepared remarks.