The finance sector announced three times as many layoffs in November than in October, a sign of continued weakness, according to a report by Chicago-based outplacement company Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Banks, brokerages and other financial services companies announced plans to eliminate 1,681 jobs in November, up from 497 in October.
"We continue to see heavy cuts from the financial sector due to the woes in Europe and the bad debt still on banks' books," said John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The finance sector has announced 56,191 job cuts year-to-date, up 162% from 21,430 announced in the year earlier period.
Announced job cuts in November include 1,000 at MF Global, 3,000 at Citigroup and a combined 2,000 at French banks Societe Generale and BNP Paribas.
Challenger doesn't expect the industry to recover soon. "It's tough to see much change there," he said. "Legislation is still up in the air and one way or another that's going to constrain growth, so banks are likely to cut jobs. The pressure will be there over the next several months."
Across all industries, cost-cutting and restructuring were the most prevalent reasons for layoffs.
Write to Julie Steinberg at Julie.Steinberg@dowjones.com