Two U.S. banks in Georgia and Florida close-FDIC

WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities closed two small banks on Friday, bringing the total number of closures so far this year to 47.

McIntosh State Bank of Jackson, Georgia, with about $340 million in total assets, was closed, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said.

Hamilton State Bank of Hoschton, Georgia will assume all of the deposits of McIntosh State's four branches.

FDIC also said First Commercial Bank of Tampa Bay, Florida, was closed and that Stonegate Bank of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, would assume its deposits.

First Commercial Bank of Tampa Bay had two branches and about $98.6 million in total assets.

The pace of failures is slowing as the banking industry recovers from the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The FDIC expects the total number of failures this year to be less than in 2010.

In 2010, 157 banks failed following 140 failures in 2009. The bulk of the failures have increasingly been smaller institutions, those with less than $1 billion in assets, as large banks have recovered more quickly from the crisis.

Community banks continue to struggle with the weak economy and many are facing problems related to their exposure to the commercial real estate market.

Recent data shows that the banking industry as a whole is doing better.

On May 24, the FDIC released its latest quarterly update on the health of the banking industry, which showed that profits are at their highest level since the financial crisis took hold.

The agency warned, though, that banks continue to boost earnings by setting aside less money to cover bad loans, rather than growing their lending business.

The FDIC said that the industry earned $29 billion in the first quarter, an $11.6 billion increase from a year before. It was the highest level since the second quarter of 2007. (Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)