NEW YORK — Bank of America posted a 10% rise in third quarter profits Tuesday, helped by higher interest rates that allowed the bank to charge more for loans at the same time that it kept expenses under control. But its CEO has words of warning about the economy.

“Our teammates delivered another strong quarter. We generated $7.8 billion in earnings, up 10 percent from the
third quarter a year ago. We added clients and accounts across all lines of business,” said Chair and CEO Brian Moynihan in a statement. Then came the warning.

“We did this in a healthy but slowing economy that saw US consumer spending still ahead of last year but continuing to slow.”

He added the quarter’s results will help the bank address future needs.

“Our growth in revenue and earnings allowed us to continue our investments in our people and technology to drive an enhanced client experience,” he said.

Moynihan warned Tuesday that Americans continue to slow their spending after burning through pandemic savings, and now face higher costs due to inflation.

The Charlotte based bank earned a profit of $7.8 billion, or 90 cents per share, which is 13 cents better than Wall Street had expected, according to a survey of analysts by FactSet. It also tops last year’s $7.1 billion profit, or 81 cents per share, in the same period.

Most of the higher profits came from higher interest rates on loans, with net interest income coming in at $14.4 billion, compared with $13.76 billion a year earlier.

With much of the savings gone from the pandemic, consumers are turning more heavily to credit cards to manage their expenses. BofA saw credit card balances rise to $98 billion in the quarter, compared with $85 billion a year ago. The bank also saw higher charge offs this quarter, or money it doesn’t expect to recover from credit card use.

Investment banking and trading at BofA also did well in the quarter. The bank saw revenues from stock trading rise 10% to $1.7 billion in the quarter, with zero days of trading losses in the last 90 days.