WASHINGTON -- All but one of the 19 largest banks have raised the extra capital cushion regulators said they'd need to withstand a deeper recession - a sign, the Treasury secretary said, of how much the financial system has improved since the crisis began.

But the banks' capital needs were based on unrealistic economic projections. Some have proved too rosy, others too grim.

For example, the test envisioned unemployment reaching 8.9 percent this year; it stands at 10.2 percent.

On the other hand, the tests assumed housing prices would fall 22 percent this year in a worst-case scenario. Instead, they fell 5.5 percent in the first half of the year and have risen for the past three months.

Earlier this year, the Obama administration subjected the 19 largest banks to "stress tests." The goal was to boost confidence in the financial sector by showing how strong banks' balance sheets were. Regulators used a series of economic projections to see if banks could withstand the losses they would suffer in case of a deeper-than-expected recession.

But the recession diverged far from the economic projections used. Analysts say their results reveal little about what troubles the banks now face. Though conditions have improved since the depths of the credit crisis, some analysts say certain banks face problems the stress-test buffers may not solve.

"We're already at record numbers on losses, and those numbers are rising," said Christopher Whalen, managing director of Institutional Risk Analytics.

The test results in May found that 10 of the 19 largest banks needed more capital to withstand losses they would suffer if the recession worsened. They were given six months to raise a total of $74.6 billion of capital. The Federal Reserve said Monday that they have raised a total of $77 billion.

Whalen said that if the banks approach the loss rates the stress tests envisioned, they still might not have enough capital to stay afloat.

The only bank that failed to raise the required capital was GMAC, which is weighed down by bad mortgage loans but provides financing to auto dealers and buyers. Regulators had said GMAC needed to raise an additional $11.5 billion.

The company is in talks with the Treasury Department about getting a fresh bailout from the $700 billion financial rescue fund. It is unclear how much money it will require. But Secretary Timothy Geithner said it "is expected to be lower than anticipated" when the stress test results were announced.

GMAC already has received $12.5 billion of taxpayer money. The Detroit-based lender is in "active dialogue" with Treasury about its next round of bailout money, said spokeswoman Gina Proia. Those funds will be used to fulfill the stress test requirement "and not to resolve any new matter related to our business," she added.

GMAC provides wholesale financing to many General Motors and Chrysler dealerships to pay for the vehicles on their lots. The company also operates a mortgage lending unit - Residential Capital - which has been pummeled by the housing market downturn. It runs an insurance unit and an online banking unit called Ally Bank.

Geithner said the success of the other 18 companies showed that the financial sector has become far more stable since January.

"Banks are repaying the taxpayers with interest and credit is coming back, but we need to reinforce that improvement and ensure that small and medium sized businesses can borrow to create jobs," he said in a statement.

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