US banks earn $36 billion in third quarter.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. banks earned less in the July-September quarter than they did a year earlier, marking the first year-over-year decline in earnings since the spring of 2009 when the country was still mired in the Great Recession.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says the banking industry earned $36 billion in the third quarter, down $1.5 billion or 3.9 percent from the third quarter of 2012.

The FDIC says the year-over-year earnings decline came primarily from a $4 billion increase in litigation expenses at a single institution. The FDIC did not name the institution.

Lower revenue from reduced mortgage activity and lower gains from asset sales also contributed to the reduction in earnings.

Half of the nation's 6,891 insured banking institutions had year-over-year growth in earnings while half reported declines.