Chicago announces city jobs cuts

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is cutting nearly 240 jobs by combining several departments as the city continues to try to close a multimillion dollar budget hole.

The city faces a deficit estimated at more than $400 million.

Daley's plan to combine departments from human services to planning comes less than a week before he's set to introduce his city budget for 2009. Aldermen have said Daley is preparing them for a difficult budget.

The city says the job cuts announced Friday will be achieved by layoffs and attrition.

Daley has previously said he'll lay off about 1,000 city workers. But it isn't immediately clear if the latest cuts are part of that total.