Sovereign Bank, the third-largest bank in Rhode Island, said Friday it plans to cut 950 jobs nationally, including 32 in this state, “starting immediately” as the recession continues.

The cuts come “in light of the current economic environment,” the bank said an e-mailed statement. The cuts amount to about 8.8 percent of its total work force and are spread across all business lines, Ellen Molle, a spokeswoman, said in a separate e-mail.

Sovereign, once the second-largest savings and loan in the United States, was forced to sell itself to Banco Santander SA, a Madrid, Spain-based bank, after customers pulled out $4.2 billion, or 9 percent, in deposits. The acquisition was announced in October and completed in January.

The lender said in December it would cut 1,000 jobs across the country, and Alfredo Saenz, Santander chief executive officer, said April 29 the bank would cut more positions at Sovereign.

At the time of the December announcement, Sovereign had 960 employees in Rhode Island and 3,379 in Massachusetts. By this week, the bank employed 865 people in Rhode Island.

The latest layoffs will cut the number of people Sovereign employs in Rhode Island to 833. The Rhode Island job cuts include tellers, loan officers, loan processors and branch managers.

The bank has 32 branches in Rhode Island and 234 in Massachusetts.

Sovereign did not close any branches as a result of the December cutback, but bank spokesman Andrew Gully said Friday he is uncertain whether that will be the case with the latest reductions.

Fresh off the sale to Banco Santander earlier this year, Sovereign officials said the financial company was strong.

Appearing at a Sovereign-sponsored event in Providence in February, they noted that two ratings agencies —– Standard & Poor’s and Fitch –– had upgraded the debt ratings for Sovereign.

The bank also had announced plans for a major ad campaign announcing its acquisition.

With reports from Journal Staff Writer Benjamin N. Gedan and Paul Grimaldi