Amazon narrows list of potential locations for second headquarters down to 20

E-commerce giant Amazon has shortened its list of potential host cities for its second headquarters from 238 down to just 20.

Amazon, which announced back in September that it was looking to build a second headquarters in North America, kicked off a competition between several US cities and states to see which would offer the most competitive tax cuts and incentives in exchange for the online retailer's promise to bring as many as 50,000 new "high-paying" jobs to the chosen region.

"Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough – all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity. Through this process we learned about many new communities across North America that we will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation," said Holly Sullivan of Amazon Public Policy on Thursday.

A final decision was expected by the end of the year.

As of 1500 GMT, Amazon shares had dipped 0.48% to $1,288.78 each.