CHICAGO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - GE Aerospace will lay

off nearly half the workers at a company site in New York state,

according to a filing with the state.

In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed on

Wednesday, the company said it expects to let go 72 of 152

workers in Schenectady, New York. The layoffs are due to start

on Dec. 31.

The affected employees belong to a services unit that once

was part of an undivided GE, a company official said. GE

Aerospace, which focuses on making and servicing jet engines,

inherited the unit after GE's spinoff in April.

The official attributed the layoffs to the spinoff and said

the employees were notified that their positions with the

company would end at the end of this year.

GE Aerospace has offered the affected workers a

"comprehensive" severance package, including support for

transition to new employment, the official added.

The notice said workers at the plant are not unionized.