WSJ - Loans at least 90 days delinquent rose in the second quarter by $11.4 billion, or 36.2%, compared with the second quarter of 2006, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Wednesday, marking the largest increase in 16 years.

Banks also charged off $9.2 billion in bad loans in the second quarter, 51.2% more than they charged off in the second quarter of 2006, the FDIC said.

The industry set aside $11.4 billion in the second quarter in loan-loss provisions to guard against future losses. This is the most banks have set aside since the fourth quarter of 2002.

"There were 824 institutions reporting net losses for the quarter, compared to 600 unprofitable institutions a year earlier," the FDIC said. "This is the largest year-over-year increase in unprofitable institutions since the third quarter of 1996."

The ratio of unprofitable institutions — roughly one out of every 10 banks — is the highest level for the second quarter of a year since 1991, the midst of the savings-and-loan crisis.

The FDIC also said that there were 61 "problem" banks at the end of the second quarter, up from 53 at the end of the first quarter. Of those, 10 are federally insured thrifts. The "problem" banks and thrifts range in size from $5 million of assets to $10 billion of assets, FDIC officials said.