Loan growth in the U.S. banking sector picked up substantially in the fourth quarter of 2021, setting up what executives say is a promising outlook for further increases in 2022. Total loans and leases at U.S. banks were $11.2 trillion at December 31, 2021, representing a 3.0% quarter-over-quarter increase according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. That equates to an annualized growth rate of approximately 12.4%, significantly higher than the 3.5% median quarterly annualized growth rate since the end of the Great Recession.

by Laura Fox