Bank of America officially announced it will cut 30,000 jobs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Bank of America says it will cut about 30,000 jobs over the next few years in a bid to save $5 billion per year.

The troubled bank says it expects many of the cuts will come through attrition and eliminating unfilled positions.

The company says the number of job cuts isn't fixed, but that it expects they will total 30,000.

The Charlotte, N.C. bank's stock has lost 47 percent this year, largely over problems related to poorly-written mortgages it acquired with its 2008 purchase of Countrywide Financial Corp.

The job cuts are part of the first phase of a cost-cutting program the bank calls "Project New BAC." It hopes to achieve the $5 billion in annual cost savings by 2014.