Thomson Reuters, the financial data and news company, said Thursday that it was cutting some jobs at its legal publishing unit in Eagan, though it declined to say how many.

Employees at the operation, which employs 7,000, had been wondering how they would be affected after the company's chief executive, Jim Smith, said in October that Thomson Reuters "would pick up the pace of efforts to simplify and streamline our organization."

The company at that time said it would aim to cut about 3,000 jobs, or about 5 percent of its global workforce, chiefly with cuts in its finance and risk businesses.

Executives back then they didn't know how the Eagan division would be hit. The unit publishes a variety of documents and publications for lawyers, law schools, courts and governments.

But earlier this week, Thomson Reuters said that Mike Suchsland, who has been president of the legal unit since 2011, would leave by the end of the month. A successor was appointed from a company division in the U.K.

Then on Thursday, an unspecified number of employees were told they were being laid off.

In response to requests from reporters, the company provided a statement that referred to Smith's announcement in October and added, "The changes announced to employees today in Eagan, and across the global business, are part of this initiative."

Evan Ramstad • 612-673-4241