GE's WMC subprime unit cuts more jobs
BOSTON, March 23 (Reuters) - The subprime mortgage unit of General Electric Co. (GE.N) has laid off more employees, following a round of 460 job cuts earlier this month, a spokeswoman for the WMC Mortgage unit said on Friday.
The spokeswoman, Brandie Young, declined to say how many jobs were being cut, but acknowledged that it would be "less" people than in the prior round. She said all the job cuts were from the Burbank, California-based company's sales force.
When the company disclosed its last round of layoffs, it said it had 1,750 employees left after the firings.
An executive from the GE unit was among those to called to testify before a U.S. Senate committee hearing this week into the distress in the subprime industry, which makes loans to less-creditworthy borrowers. Mortgage default rates have been rising as some U.S. home buyers find themselves unable to keep up with the rising costs of variable-rate mortgages and other loans made by subprime lenders, and at least 20 lenders catering to that segment of the market have shut down.
For more on the subprime mortgage crisis see [nN16195443]
((Reporting by Scott Malone, editing by Gerald E. McCormick; Reuters Messaging: rm://scott.malone.reuters.com@reuters.net; Telephone: +1 617-367-4176; Boston.Newsroom@reuters.com)) Keywords: USA SUBPRIME/WMC CUTS
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