HSBC Bank USA North America has laid off sixty employees at One HSBC Center in downtown Buffalo.  Business First reports the employees were in the marketing, money center and mailroom divisions.  HSBC is hiring about 100 new staffers for its commercial banking, mortgage underwriting, information management and call center operations.

More unemployment news: the state Labor Department reports the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area's unemployment rate went from 7.4% last October to 8.2% for October of this year.  That's a half of a percentage point better than the 8.7% year-to-year state unemployment rate in October.

Benderson Development has purchased the former Wegmans-Chase Pitkin Plaza on Walden Avenue for a reported $10.5 million.  Benderson is said to be looking into re-use possibilities.

Third quarter sales for Tops Holding Company held steady compared to the same period last year.  Profits dropped 27%, blamed mostly on pharmaceutical sales as generics replaced brand name drugs.