Loan losses punish Bank of America's bottom line

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) said Friday it lost more than $2 billion in the third quarter as loan losses kept rising, providing further evidence that consumers are still struggling to pay their bills.

The nation's second-largest bank, which lost $2.24 billion after accounting for preferred dividends, said its losses for failed loans came to almost $10 billion during the July-September period, up almost $1 billion from the second quarter. The bank also added $11.7 billion to its reserves to cover bad loans.