Sprint says it will eliminate another 2,000 jobs, or about 5 percent of its staff

Wireless carrier Sprint says it is eliminating 2,000 jobs, or about 5 percent of its staff, as part of an effort to cut $1.5 billion in annual spending.

The company had announced a round of job cuts in early October, and did not say how many jobs were eliminated at that time. Sprint said Monday that job cuts would reduce its labor costs by $400 million per year.

Overland Park, Kansas-based Sprint Corp. is the third-largest cellphone carrier in the U.S. and is trying to compete better with AT&T and Verizon.

Japan's Softbank bought a majority stake in Sprint in 2013 and the company has eliminated thousands of jobs since then. It had 38,000 employees at the end of 2013.