NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Bancorp (USB.N), the sixth-largest U.S. bank, said on Tuesday first-quarter profit fell 4 percent, but results topped forecasts as increases in credit card and mortgage banking revenue helped offset weaker credit quality tied to the housing crisis.

Problems that began in the U.S. mortgage markets have led to the most serious international economic crisis since the late 1990s. Huge losses and concern about credit quality have spread far beyond the housing sector. America faces the prospect of a sharp recession, made all the likelier by the probable default of several million additional mortgages in the coming year and the resulting displacement of millions of families.

Orange County officials said Tuesday that the county's short-term investment pools held about 14% of assets in a type of IOU that some big investors had been shunning because of credit-quality concerns.