LOS ANGELES — In another sign of how deep the global recession has become, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach yesterday reported their worst combined import statistics for September in nine years.

September is often the busiest month at the nation's biggest port complex, making it one of the best barometers of the health of the economy and international trade.

The outlook could hardly be more ominous, said John Husing, an independent analyst with Economics and Politics Inc. in Redlands, Calif.

Seeing nothing but smooth sailing ahead for the globalization that has reshaped international trade, the world's shipping lines committed themselves years into the future to orders for new container ships that have as much as 69 percent more cargo carrying capacity than the vessels that were the world's largest in 2004, he said.

SAN JOAQUIN BANK SHUT BY REGULATORS

NEW YORK — Regulators shut down San Joaquin Bank in California yesterday, marking the 99th failure this year of a federally insured bank.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of San Joaquin Bank, based in Bakersfield, Calif. It had $775 million in assets and $631 million in deposits as of Sept. 29.

The FDIC said the bank's deposits will be assumed by Citizens Business Bank, based in Ontario, Calif. Its five branches will reopen Monday as branches of Citizens Business Bank.

San Joaquin Bank's failure is expected to cost the FDIC's insurance fund $103 million.

BOFA'S 3RD-QUARTER LOSS POSTED AS $2.2B

CHARLOTTE, N.C.— Bank of America Corp. said yesterday it lost more than $2.2 billion in the third quarter as loan losses kept rising, providing more evidence that consumers are still struggling to pay their bills.

The nation's second-largest bank said it wrote down loans on its books by almost $10 billion during the July-September period, up almost $1 billion from the second quarter. The bank also added $2.1 billion to its reserves to cover bad loans, bringing its provision for credit losses to $11.7 billion.