Failing banks, plummeting stock values and rising rates of unemployment conspired to make Feb. 27 one of the least encouraging news days since the present economic crisis began.
Bank of Nevada assumed responsibility for Security Savings Bank of Henderson, Nev., while Heritage Community Bank of Glenwood, Ill., was purchased by MB Financial Bank, N.A. The combined costs to FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund totaled $100.7 million.
The failures were the 15th and 16th since Jan. 1, and marked the seventh consecutive Friday of failure announcements. In all of 2008, there were 25 such bank closures.
U.S. stocks hit a 12-year low, comparable to the period before the dot-com and tech bubbles and the intense deregulation of the financial industry. Fresh 12-year lows were set on March 3.
California has now joined Michigan on the list of states with official unemployment rates above 10 percent. Nationally, unemployment for Blacks and Latinos is substantially higher, confirming that the most oppressed communities are bearing the brunt of the crisis.
