Economy, Job Cuts | featured news

U.S. private companies hemorrhaged nearly 700,000 jobs in February and the service sector slump deepened as the year-old recession showed little sign of abating, according to data released on Wednesday.

Nissan Motor Co. Monday said it has swung to a fiscal third quarter loss on a "severe downturn in the global economy" and the impact of a strengthened yen, adding the deterioration in business conditions forced the Japanese auto major to slash its full-year profit and revenue forecasts.

U.S. employers slashed 598,000 jobs in January, the deepest cut in payrolls in 34 years as the national unemployment rate shot up to 7.6 percent, according to a Labor Department report on Friday that underlined a deepening recession.

Private sector employment decreased by 522000 last month, according to ADP’s national employment report released Wednesday. The report is compiled from actual payroll data and measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month.

Panasonic Corp. said Wednesday it will slash 15,000 jobs and shut down 27 plants worldwide, joining a slew of major Japanese companies announcing deep cuts as the global slowdown batters the world's second-largest economy.

US department store chain Macy's is cutting 7,000 jobs as it reduces costs against a backdrop of falling sales.

Gannett Co., the largest US newspaper publisher, said fourth-quarter profit fell 36 percent on faltering advertising sales and expenses to cut jobs.

Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp. said it will cut 20,000 workers worldwide as it tries to stanch widening losses from semiconductors and other businesses that have been hard hit by competition and the global economic slump.

Mayor Bloomberg's bare-bones budget for next year slashes the city work force by 23,000 but won't hit homeowners with higher taxes, officials revealed Thursday.

Kodak announced plans to cut between 3,500 and 4,500 jobs, or 14% to 18% of its work force, amid weak sales.