NEW YORK, NY July 18, 2008 —Citigroup released its second quarter earnings this morning saying it lost $2.5 billion over the past three months. It also laid off 6,000 workers.

REPORTER: Citigroup president Vikram Pandit described the loss as progress citing that last quarter the bank lost $5.1 billion. Citigroup's announcement ends an up and down week of earnings reports for the big banks.

JPMorgan Chase was one of the few bright spots announcing stronger-than-expected results. But for others on the street, the news was more gloomy. Merrill Lynch, the world's biggest brokerage firm, announced a wider-than-expected second-quarter loss at $4.89 billion. It's Merrill's fourth straight quarterly loss.