More job losses are forecast for the banking industry, just as some thought the situation was under control. For the first time in 40 years insitutions that take deposits, make loans, etc, are experiencing a downturn. Analysts at the financial research firm Celent LLC said in a report Tuesday that it expects the U.S. commercial banking industry — essentially, all companies that lend or collect deposits — to lose 200,000 of its 2 million jobs over the next 12 to 18 months.

While mortgage brokers and loan originators have been looking for jobs since last August 2007, any job loss of this magnitude in a single sector is never good news. As the banking industry looks for ways to reduce costs some of the jobs may never return, going instead to India or the Philippines when demand returns. Of course they could simply raise NSF fees and stop=payment to $59 to make up the difference. Will we see $5 ATM fees? Time will tell.