CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Bank of America Corp., the third-biggest U.S. bank, said yesterday that it plans to fire 900 technology and operations workers by the end of the year to cut costs.

Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis, in his second year in charge, is trying to reduce annual expenses by $1 billion.

The company expects the economy to remain weak next year, and "it is obvious that we can't meet our 2003 budget without affecting the personnel line," Technology and Operations Executive Tim Arnoult said in a memo to employees.

The cuts are the latest attempt by banks to counter the sputtering economy and financial markets by reducing expenses in an effort to bolster profits. Bank of America has eliminated 9,689 jobs, or 6.7 percent of its work force, over the past year.

"They've made a lot of progress, but they have more to do," said Phil Larkins, who helps manage $350 million of assets, including Bank of America shares, at Legacy South Inc. in Atlanta. The latest cuts amount to less than 1 percent of the bank's 134,135 jobs as of Sept. 30.

The workers being fired are responsible for programming software, processing loans and credit requests and other back-office functions, spokeswoman Lisa Gagnon said.

Bank of America also is cutting investment banking jobs. It said last month that it is cutting more than 190 corporate and investment banking jobs by year's end during the worst slump in global mergers and share sales in at least five years.

The company's shares gained 81 cents to $68.22 yesterday.