JP Morgan, America’s third biggest bank, has been hit again by the subprime crisis.

This time the hit is more than $4.6 billion (£2.6bn), taking its credit crunch losses to around $15 billion since August — an unparalleled rate of attrition.

Meanwhile, the bank’s profits tumbled by 51pc to $2.5 billion in Q1, eased slightly by a winning bet on the flotation of card giant, Visa.

Since the Fed is backing JP’s rescue of Bear with $30 billion, this will send a shudder down the spine of Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve’s Chairman.

Signs that the crunch is biting even deeper are coming across the board. House building in the U.S. is now at its lowest level for 17 years. JP Morgan suffered a 20pc reversal in its credit card division, while its retail banking arm slipped by over a billion dollars.

JP’s chief, Jamie Dimon, said, “The Economic environment will continue to be weak and the capital markets will remain under stress.”

With Britain beginning to feel the strain, along with some European economies, it’s now clear that the worst is still to come.

A version of this article has appeared in Moneyizor — Money, The Big Picture

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