Charlotte NC leaders say that more jobs are coming. Bank Of America Corp. said Thursday it expects to eliminate 30,000 to 35,000 jobs over the next three years, as it faces a deteriorating economic environment and tries to absorb Merrill Lynch & Co. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America said it hasn't yet completed its analysis for eliminating positions, and a final number will not be determined until early next year. It said the cuts will affect workers from both companies and all kinds of businesses. This will greatly affect the number of Charlotte homes for sale in the Mecklenburg County NC Real Estate region. Thursday's announcement of job cuts was hardly unexpected, considering the merger and the wave of job losses seen in the banking industry and other sectors over the past few months. Bank of America and Merrill Lynch have already eliminated thousands of investment banking jobs over the past year, as have other banks, in an effort to lower costs as they face increasing default in mortgages, credit card debt and other loans. Bank of America is considered one of the country's healthiest banks, and its decision illustrates how widespread the wave of layoffs hitting the United States is. The nation lost more than half a million jobs in November alone. New York based Citigroup Inc. has been slashing jobs the most, by next year Citigroup expects to have shrunk its workforce by 75,000 or 20%, since its headcount peaked in late 2007. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is shedding out about 7,000 employees, or 10%, of its investment bank staff, and cutting 9,200 jobs at Washington Mutual Inc., the bank acquired in September. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley meanwhile, are reducing their staff by about 10%.

The shotgun deal between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch valued at $50 billion when it was initially announced in September, was struck as the solvency of investment banks was in grave doubt, and kept Merrill from a complete meltdown like the one suffered by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which was forced to file for bankruptcy. Shareholders of both companies voted to approve the deal last week and it expected to close by January 1. Bank of America shares fell $1.78 or 11% to close at $14.91 on Thursday while Merrill Lynch shares fell $1.43 or 10% to $12.67. In after-hours trading, Bank of America shares rose $.12 to $15 and Merrill shares rose a penny to $12.68.

With a Charlotte banking industry waiting to see how many people going to lose their jobs in the coming year the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce said it is on track to bring 12,000 jobs into the area this year. This is not a record, but Chamber president Bob Morgan says it is good considering the economy. Just today we are announcing a New Zealand manufacturer of hybrid buses is going to open a manufacturing plant here in Charlotte, Morgan said. DesignLine International Holdings is planning a 100,000 square-foot plant in Charlotte to begin producing hybrid buses next year. Morgan expects the plant to employ, a couple of hundred people. But with so many banking industry employs expected to be looking for work, are they going to take jobs building buses? No, said John Lassiter, the head of Charlotte City Council's Economic Development Committee. But Lassiter says there are banking related job possibilities, to. He cites the possibility of a move to the area of GMAC. They could pick up a lot of folks who leave Wachovia or Bank of America, Lassiter says, for Charlotte’s economy to continue to prosper in light of declining employment in the banking industry, "I think the real challenge will be how we re-mix the job pool?" That new hybrid bus plant is a start and might one-day be viewed as the first of Charlotte's new wave of "green related" industries.