On February 24, the FDIC announced fourth quarter earnings for all federally insured institutions, with substantial increases in community bank earnings. Community bank earnings for the fourth quarter rose $1.0 billion to $4.8 billion (an increase of approximately 28% from the previous year). Comparatively, FDIC-insured banks and savings institutions as a whole earned $36.9 billion in the fourth quarter, which is a decrease of 7.3% from the industry’s earnings a year before. The surge in earnings was attributed to higher net interest income, increased noninterest income, and higher loan growth.