AFP reported that the Bank of America Corp said Friday that it plans to cut 3 500 jobs by the end of September.

The cuts amount to a little more than 1% of the bank's workforce of roughly 288 000. But they follow a string of other layoffs, including 2 500 already announced this year.

A bank spokesman declined to say if the cuts would be concentrated in a particular part of the country, but said they would be spread across most of the business units.

He said “The company regularly assesses the efficiency of its businesses and at times is going to make adjustments to meet the opportunities that are in the marketplace.”

The bank has previously cut jobs in the mortgage lending and investment banking, for example, after demand for those services slowed.

After this round of layoffs, the bank should have about 284 000 employees. Its roster peaked in early 2009, right after it absorbed investment bank Merrill Lynch and mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, at about 302 000.

The entire US banking industry is shrinking, as new regulations and the fallout of the financial crisis force it to become smaller, simpler and less profitable. Many of the complicated investment vehicles that fueled the industry before 2008 are gone, after being blamed for causing the financial crisis. US banks employ about 2.09 million people, down from 2.21 million people in early 2008.

(Sourced from AFP)