Bank of America to cut 3,500 jobs

NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America Corp., the nation's largest bank, said today that it plans to cut 3,500 jobs by the end of September.

The cuts amount to a little more than 1 percent 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.

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

Silvestri said the layoffs were not part of "New BAC," a cost-cutting program announced in May.