Is it any surprise that investment firms that deal with mortgages are still cutting back? As more and more homeowners default on their mortgage and more of them enter foreclosure, it’s only logical that more and more brokers and such would be laid off.

Morgan Stanley (MS.N) will slash 1,000 jobs, scale back its U.S. home-lending business and shut down a British mortgage unit as new management takes a hard look at the continued deterioration in mortgage markets.

The cuts announced on Wednesday affect Morgan Stanley employees who generate home loans through brokers and other third parties, as well as bankers who packaged these loans into bonds. The bank declined to detail cuts for specific areas.

Including the latest moves, Morgan Stanley has laid off 2,900 people in mortgages, wealth management, investment banking and capital markets since October. That’s 6 percent of Morgan Stanley’s 48,256 employees at the end of November.

Once the market for mortgage-backed securities picks up again, I’m sure things will look different, but until then, we’re going to see more of these cuts, and I’m pretty sure this is still just the tip of the iceberg.

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