McGraw-Hill Cos., which is currently trying to sell off its non-profitable BusinessWeek, said Thursday it has cut 550 jobs, or 2.5 percent of its workforce.

The New York company, which publishes textbooks and own the credit-ratings agency Standard & Poor's, said 340 people laid off mostly in the school textbook publishing division (40 in NY, including entire copyediting department - closing Los Angeles office completely).

Another 125 positions from its information and media departments will be slashed, and 85 from financial services, the company said in a statement.

McGraw-Hill buried the layoffs at the bottom of a press release that was title: The McGraw-Hill Companies Creates Achievement-Focused PreK-12 Education Group to Help Students Develop 21st Century Skills.

McGraw-Hill said it will take a $24.3 million pretax charge for severance costs in the second quarter. The company reported a 22 percent drop in first quarter profit in April.

This week the company said it may be looking to sell off BusinessWeek, which is not making profits as more advertisers prefer online advertising instead of print.

McGraw-Hill reports earnings later this month.

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