Wells Fargo cuts hundreds of jobs in mortgage business – Bloomberg News

(Reuters) -Wells Fargo & Co has cut hundreds of jobs in its mortgage business across the country, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday citing people familiar with the bank’s plans.

Higher inflation and rapidly rising mortgage rates have started to weigh on the housing market as buying homes becomes costlier, hitting what was until last year a booming industry.

Refinancing has also come under pressure due to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary policy tightening campaign.

The latest reductions in the lender’s mortgage unit add to thousands already made by Wells Fargo this year, the Bloomberg report said.

“We regularly review and adjust staffing levels to align with market conditions and the needs of our businesses,” the bank said in an emailed statement to Reuters but did not give any details on the number of employees or units affected.

In June, JPMorgan Chase & Co, the largest U.S. bank by assets, had also started laying off employees in its mortgage business.

(Reporting by Manya Saini and Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)