????美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)蘇或?qū)⒇舱鄢霈F(xiàn)了新的跡象：去年大部分時(shí)間都保持增長(zhǎng)的美國(guó)大銀行貸款在2012年前3個(gè)月出現(xiàn)了下降。

????貸款下降的同時(shí)，大銀行開始面臨監(jiān)管部門及債券評(píng)級(jí)機(jī)構(gòu)更加嚴(yán)格的審查，同時(shí)，越來越多的跡象表明，美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)正在再次走軟。上周，美國(guó)政府公布，美國(guó)一季度GDP僅增長(zhǎng)了2.2%，低于分析人士之前的預(yù)期。周一，高盛（Goldman Sachs）首席美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家簡(jiǎn)?哈祖斯預(yù)計(jì)4月份美國(guó)僅增加了就業(yè)人數(shù)12.5萬(wàn)。這個(gè)數(shù)字大大低于短短兩個(gè)月前的24萬(wàn)。

????貸款下降是美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)令人擔(dān)憂的另一個(gè)跡象。銀行縮減貸款將使中小企業(yè)更難獲得資金進(jìn)行業(yè)務(wù)擴(kuò)張。另一方面，貸款下降也說明貸款需求減少，說明企業(yè)和個(gè)人因?yàn)閾?dān)憂當(dāng)前經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況而不愿貸款。

????摩根大通（JPMorgan Chase）、富國(guó)銀行（Wells Fargo）、美國(guó)銀行（Bank of America）和花旗集團(tuán)（Citigroup）今年前3個(gè)月貸款總額縮減了240億美元，與去年全年美國(guó)四大銀行貸款增加340億美元的情況大相徑庭。下降幅度最大的是消費(fèi)貸款，其中信用卡貸款下降了近6%，住房?jī)糁蒂J款下降了2%多一點(diǎn)。按揭貸款略增，但很多是因?yàn)槿藗冇酶屠寿J款對(duì)貸款進(jìn)行再融資，而不是實(shí)際的新增貸款。

????更重要的是，大型銀行貸款下降正值銀行業(yè)貸款總體呈現(xiàn)增長(zhǎng)之時(shí)。這是另一個(gè)證據(jù)，表明美國(guó)大型銀行尚未完全從金融危機(jī)中恢復(fù)元?dú)狻Ｖ芤唬绹?guó)聯(lián)邦儲(chǔ)備委員會(huì)（Federal Reserve, Fed）稱，一季度銀行業(yè)總體上放寬了貸款標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，美國(guó)一季度銀行貸款總額增加了約950億美元。

????貸款下降最多的是美國(guó)銀行。過去兩年，美國(guó)銀行的貸款余額縮減了780億美元。去年，該行退出了由外部按揭經(jīng)紀(jì)人出售的融資貸款業(yè)務(wù)。目前僅提供由銀行雇員辦理出售的住房貸款，結(jié)果大幅壓縮了該行的住房貸款業(yè)務(wù)。

????“美國(guó)銀行受按揭貸款業(yè)務(wù)沖擊很嚴(yán)重，”羅奇代爾證券公司（Rochdale Securities）跟蹤銀行股的迪克?波維稱。“很多銀行仍處于保護(hù)模式。”

????譯者：早稻米

????Here's another sign that the economic recovery may be fizzling: Big bank lending, which had risen for most of last year, dropped in the first three months of 2012.

????The loan drop comes as big banks face new scrutiny from regulators and bond rating firms, and when there are growing signs that the economy is weakening, again. Last week, the government said that GDP grew just 2.2% in the first quarter, which was less than analysts had predicted. On Monday, Goldman Sachs' top U.S. economist Jan Hatzius predicted that the economy only added 125,000 jobs in April. That would be down from 240,000 jobs just two months ago.

????A drop in lending is another worrying sign for the economy. When banks cut their lending, it makes it harder for small businesses to get money to expand. But a drop in lending could also signal a drop in demand for loans, meaning businesses and individual don't want to borrow because they are worried about the economy.

????JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) cut their lending by a collective $24 billion in the first three months of the year. That was a change from last year when lending rose $34 billion at the nation's four biggest banks in all of 2012. The biggest drops were in consumer lending, where credit card loans fell nearly 6% and home equity lines of credit dropped just over 2%. Mortgage lending was up slightly, but much of those home loans were the result of people refinancing to lower rates, and not actual new loans.

????What's more, the drop at the big banks comes at a time when lending at banks in general appears to be growing. That's an other sign that the nation's biggest banks still haven't fully healed from the financial crisis. On Monday, the Federal Reserve said that banks in general had eased their lending standards in the first quarter. According to Fed data, the overall volume of bank loans in the U.S. rose by about $95 billion in the first quarter.

????The biggest drop in loans came at Bank of America. Loans outstanding at B of A have dropped $78 billion in the past two years. Last year, the bank got out of the business of the business of funding loans sold by outside mortgage brokers. The firm now only makes home loans that are sold by a bank employee. That has cut the bank's home lending activities dramatically.

????"Bank of America got hurt pretty badly by its mortgage business," says analyst Dick Bove, who follows bank stocks for Rochdale Securities. "Banks are still in protection mode."