Countrywide laying off more than 2,500 employees (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Countrywide Financial Corp., the largest U.S. mortgage lender, on Tuesday said it expects to cut staff by more than 2,500 employees to help save more than $500 million as demand for home loans slumps. The cuts affect about 4 percent of Calabasas, California-based Countrywide's (NYSE: CFC - news ) workforce. They follow thousands of job cuts announced this year by other large mortgage lenders, including Washington Mutual Inc. (NYSE: WM - news ) and subprime lender Ameriquest ...