A prolonged US housing slump is causing a surge in the number of job losses announced by US financial services companies, consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc said on Tuesday. The financial industry has announced 87,962 job cuts so far this year, 75 percent more than the total of 50,327 in all of 2006.
Of this year's cuts, 41 percent related to troubles in the mortgage market, including riskier subprime mortgages, Challenger said.