The number of banks that are losing money in the 14-state coverage area of NorthWestern Financial Review magazine is declining — a welcome sign that industry conditions are improving, albeit slowly.

389 banks in the region reported negative net income for the second quarter, the FDIC reported yesterday. That compares with 412 banks that reported losses in the first quarter. That is a reduction to 12.3 percent of the banks in the region from 12.9 percent. The FDIC reports that across the country, 15.2 percent of all banks lost money in the second quarter, down from second quarter 2010 when 20.8 percent of the nation’s banks lost money.

Conditions appeared to improve the most in Nebraska, where 9.0 percent of the banks reported losses for the first quarter, but only 6.3 percent reported losses for the second quarter. Other states where conditions improved include: Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, and North Dakota. The number of banks reporting losses increased in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Subscribers to NorthWestern Financial Review can get second quarter data on our home page by clicking on “state pages” in the premium section.