Citi the latest bank to put mortgage jobs on the chopping block

Citigroup will lay off about 2,200 employees in its mortgage unit by early next year amid a tide of similar cuts at other lenders as rising mortgage rates cripple refi activity and slow new lending

Citigroup will lay off about 2,200 employees in its mortgage unit by early next year, according to a Fox Business report. The layoffs come amid a tide of similar cuts at other lenders as rising mortgage rates cripple refi activity and slow new lending.

The Citi cuts could happen at offices nationwide, Fox Business reported, citing anonymous sources within the company. As other banks including Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase hand employees their walking papers, Citi’s layoffs mean that the nation’s biggest lenders will be handing out more than 22,000 pink slips in coming months.

Citigroup Director of Communications Mark Rogers wouldn’t comment directly on the reported layoffs. 
“We recently announced the closing of the CitiMortgage Danville, Illinois, facility due to decreased refinance volumes, and discontinued some telesales positions,” Rogers told Fox Business. “We have nothing further to announce at this time."

Rising rates are drowning workers across the industry. JPMorgan has announced plans to eliminate about 19,000 positions – about 15,000 in its mortgage unit – over the next two years. Bank of America expects to lay off about 2,100 employees and close 16 mortgage offices by the end of October, and Wells Fargo – the biggest lender in the country – has announced the elimination of more than 3,000 mortgage jobs in the past two months.