The Carlyle Group, the big private equity firm, said Wednesday that it was cutting about 100 jobs, or 10 percent of its work force, citing “extraordinary market conditions.”

The Washington-based firm joins a growing list of financial companies that are shedding workers in the global economic slump.

“We’re reverting back to our late ‘07 staff size,” said Chris Ullman, a Carlyle spokesman, in a telephone interview. “We grew pretty significantly in the last year.” He said the firm was adjusting its cost structure to the current markets, where the opportunities are limited.

Mr. Ullman said some of the job cuts would occur “on the deal side” among the investment professionals who work on taking companies private through leveraged buyouts. That area that has languished as the credit crunch deepened over the past year.

He said, however, that the majority of the cuts would take place in the firm’s back-office operations, including accounting, human resources and legal.

Carlyle has 33 offices in 21 countries. Mr. Ullman said there would be more cuts in the United States than elsewhere because that is where about half of its staff works.

In confirming a report about the job cuts on The Wall Street Journal’s Web site, Mr. Ullman acknowledged that Carlyle would close its office in Silicon Valley and said that would affect five people. He noted that Carlyle was involved in growth capital and that only 2 of its 15 deals in that area occurred on the West Coast.

Further explaining Carlyle’s decision to cut jobs, Mr. Ullman referred to the company’s prepared statement:

“In response to extraordinary market conditions, Carlyle has taken measured steps to balance its cost structure with the current investment climate. The firm is well positioned to take good care of our investment portfolio and has the resources to create and respond to compelling investment opportunities.”

Carlyle, like other private equity firms, has had a tough year. In March, the firm liquidated Carlyle Capital, a European publicly listed investment fund that defaulted on $16.6 billion in debt, as creditors began selling off assets. In July, it said it was liquidating its Blue Wave hedge fund following big losses since its inception last year.

On Monday, Hawaiian Telcom Communications, the telephone company controlled by Carlyle, said it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Carlyle also dropped out of the bidding for Lehman Brothers‘ investment management business, which includes Neuberger Berman. Neuberger’s management submitted the winning bid on Wednesday.

But Mr. Ullman emphasized that “the good news is that there has been activity recently.” He pointed in particular to Carlyle’s sale of AxelTech International to General Dynamics last month. He also noted the firm’s purchase of a majority stake in the government consulting arm of Booz Allen Hamilton in May.

The Journal reported that Carlyle had recently raised $14 billion from investors for its next buyout fund.

Mr. Ullman said Carlyle had $40 billion in capital on hand. “The firm is strong,” he said. “We have the people and the capital to take care of our portfolio and do deals.”