FDIC says 829 U.S. banks remain at risk for failure

More than one-tenth of U.S. banks continue to be at risk of failure even as some sectors, such as credit quality, are showing some signs of recovery.

Around 829 of the country's 7,800 banks were on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s "problem list" at the end of June, up from 775 at the end of the first three months of the year, the Wall Street Journal reported. Already this year 118 banks have failed, well ahead of last year when 140 went under.

It's still difficult to get a loan; total loan and lease balances fell 1.3 percent from April through the end of June. Total banking assets fell 1% to $13.2 trillion during the quarter.

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair says banks are starting to ease lending standards in some cases but warned that "lending will not pick up until businesses and consumers gain the confidence they need to hire and spend."

The FDIC also says there were 104 fewer banks in the second quarter compared with the first quarter, and for the first time in the last 38 years, no new banks were added.