Bear Stearns will reportedly slash another 650 jobs in its mortgage-lending unit as cuts by Wall Street investment banks as a result of the credit crunch near 4,000.

The latest cuts, reported by Bloomberg, will bring to over 1,200 the number of jobs axed by Bear this year. Bear Stearns previously said it would eliminate about 550 jobs. The first announcement in August included 100 layoffs at its Encore sub-prime unit, and 140 at Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage. In early October, the bank warned of over 310 jobs cut in the mortgage unit.