The loan growth that eluded large U.S. banks for most of last year is expected to finally make an appearance as lenders begin to report results Friday, in a sign the economy is making more progress in recovering from the pandemic.
Federal Reserve data compiled by Bloomberg show that loans at the 25 largest banks were 3.5% higher at the end of December than they were a year earlier. That’s clear improvement from the end of the third quarter, when the same comparison was flat. Still, the highly contagious omicron variant of Covid-19 has taken hold in recent weeks, with the potential to undo those gains.
