PRESS RELEASE

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130,000 Jobs Lost in U.S. Financial Sector So Far This Year

Oct. 5, 2007 (EIRNS)—The U.S. financial sector cut 130,000 jobs in the first nine months of 2007, according to a study released today by Challenger, Gray and Christmas. John Challenger warned, "the dominoes are likely to keep toppling...," according to the London Guardian. CNBC forecast yesterday that Merrill Lynch will soon report big Third Quarter losses, and cut 15% of the jobs in its fixed income division. Recall that last week, the number of new claims for unemployment benefits jumped by 16,000—up to 317,000, which was the biggest rise in four months.