And the list goes on... The US credit crunch has claimed yet another victim today. This time round, it is not just profits that have been affected, but 3,000 employees at building materials group Wolseley who will lose their jobs
Wolseley has released a worrying trading update, pointing to a 12% drop in trading profit for the three months to end October. The cause of this drop is now a familiar tale - whilst its European division has performed well, it is its US unit that has taken a hit.
Revenue in North America is down 10%, and trading profit fell 30%. It is this division that will be affected by redundancies - 1,700 people have already lost their jobs in the quarter, and a further 1,300 will in the second quarter.
Wolseley has blamed the slowing US housing market, and low consumer confidence following the uncertainty in the financial markets - in other words, it has blamed the credit crunch. Shares are down 10p, or 1.6%, at 631p.
Yesterday, Signet, the jewellery retailer, and Pendragon, the car dealership, both issued profit warnings for much the same reason.
It is becoming painfully obvious that banks are not the only victims of the sub-prime crisis in the US.
The FTSE 100, however, seems unmoved, and was up 31.6 points at 6172.3, following a strong performance on Wall Street.
