Another day, another round of job cuts send the number of new claims for jobless benefit spiralling as the US economy cotinues to reel under an unprecedented slowdown.

The US Labour Department yesterday revealed in its weekly report that new claimants for jobless benefits hit 4,78,000 last week, increasing more than expected and again approaching a 7-year high, and more than doubling from last years 3,33,000 a year ago which is a 44 per cent increase in jobless claims compared to last year and claims above 4,00,000 are considered a sign of deep recession.

Nationwide mass job cuts jumped 74 per cent to 2,269 events from 1,307 a year ago, with more than one in three people lined up for unemployment benefits last month, the bureau data showed.

Nearly 6,000 Ohioans lined up for unemployment insurance benefits after mass job losses in September, ranking as the worst month in the US for large-scale employee cuts since September 2001.

In Georgia unemployment is already above the national average, and with a 78-per cent increase in initial unemployment claims, Metro Atlanta and Georgia are feeling the brunt of the economic downturn.

Many companies showing poor earnings in their third quarter results due to the fallout from the credit crunch and the slowing economy have resorted to job cuts in order to restructure and cut cost.

The numbers this week:
Chrysler, whose sales have fallen 25 per cent this year due to plunging demand in auto sales in the US because of a combination of high gasoline prices, tight credit and a weak housing market, said on Thursday that it was closing one assembly plant early and eliminating a shift at another, resulting in 1,825 job cuts, following a loss of more than $1 billion for the first half of the year.

The company now plans to close the Newark, Delaware, assembly plant and eliminate a shift at its plant in Toledo, Ohio, by end of December.

The Toledo plant employs about 2,100 people producing Dodge Nitro and Jeep Liberty SUVs

The Newark assembly plant, which builds the slow-selling Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen, was originally set to close at the end of 2009, a move first announced in February 2007 as part of Chrysler's cost-cutting plan.

General Motors said Thursday that it would suspend several benefit programmes for salaried workers as it seeks to cut costs in the difficult auto market.

GM has been aggressively working to slash its costs this year as it struggles with falling sales and in August, the automaker began offering buyouts to some salaried workers as part of a plan to cut 15 per cent of the costs associated with its white-collar work force.

GM had 44,000 salaried workers in 2000 in the US which has dropped to 32,000 by the end of last year.

Earlier in the year, GM announced a $15-billion restructuring plan involving cost cuts and cash raises. As part of the plan, the company said it would cut thousands of salaried and hourly jobs, sell assets, suspend its dividend and eliminate health care for salaried retirees over age 65.

Xerox Corp, plans to cut 3,000 jobs, or 5 per cent of its work force, because a slowdown in orders from large US companies has dragged down the printer and copier maker's profit margins.

The restructuring the Norwalk-based company announced Thursday will affect all departments except sales and is an example of how the economic turmoil is hurting companies outside the financial services industry.

Xerox had already been steadily cutting costs and jobs before the financial crisis dramatically worsened in the past month. The company has slashed 8,800 jobs since 2005, including 1,500 so far this year. But the recent sharp economic downturn intensified pressure on Xerox's profit margins and caused the company to accelerate its restructuring plans.

The latest cuts will lead to a $400 million charge. US-based employees are being offered buyout packages, said Xerox spokesman Carl Langsenkamp.

Global electrical products manufacturer Cooper Industries that makes the Halo brand lightingand reported 2007 revenues of $5.9 billion, said it would reduce over 1,000 employees as the credit-market freeze and slowing economies reduce demand for its products.

Houston-based Cooper will have $20 million to $22 million in severance expenses in the fourth quarter. The company had more than 31,500 workers in 23 countries last year.

Merck, hurt by declining sales which have brought about 100,000 job cuts in the last five years at most big pharmaceutical companies, said on Wednesday that it would cut 7,200 more jobs, or more than 12 per cent of its work force, it's second revamping in three years, a move not directly related to the overall financial crisis.

Merck, which now has 56,700 employees, eliminated 10,400 jobs as part of a reorganization announced in 2005, a year after its Vioxx pain reliever was removed from the market because of safety concerns.

Novartis also said yesterday it will cut 550 marketing jobs in the US, adding to 2,500 job reductions already under way. The cuts are designed to help reduce costs as the company's best selling medicine, the heart drug Diovan, will face generic competition beginning in 2012. The drug had $1.4 billion in sales in the third quarter.

It suffered from the slowing of house building activity in the US since the sub-prime mortgage crisis and had already reduced headcount in the US business by around 40 per cent since 2006. The new job cuts will mean that staff numbers have fallen by 55 per cent since 2006.

The Reading, UK-based company said today that will close 86 branches and exit the Louisiana market altogether and the revamp will reduce the total workforce by about 4 per cent, at a cost of $225 million to be booked by January 31.

Internet giant Yahoo posted a drop in profit in the third quarter and announced plans to lay off 1,500 which is 10 per cent of its 14,000 person work force. The company also lowered its full year revenue outlook.

The latest layoffs, which the company said was in effort to control costs, come on top of the 1,000 job cuts reported in January. The struggling Web portal said net income fell to $54.3 million or four cents a share, from $151.3 million, or 11 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.

Goldman Sachs, which has transited from an investment bank to a traditional bank holding company plans to cut about 3,260 jobs, which is about 10 per cent of the total staff of the New York-based bank, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday. (See: Goldman Sachs to slash 10 per cent jobs, 3200 employees at risk)

In June, the Wall Street bank had laid off hundreds of support staff and junior bankers due to slowing markets following a round of cuts in leveraged lending and mortgage securities jobs in April.

US asset manager AllianceBernstein Holding said on Wednesday its planned job cuts would be unprecedented in its history but would not be "draconian".

The firm did not say how many jobs would be cut but said it would take a charge in the fourth quarter for the job losses, when most of the cuts would be made.

President and chief operating officer, Gerald Lieberman, said "We are talking about severance in the tens of millions of dollars.

Cleveland-based bank National City, on Tuesday reported a third-quarter loss and said it will cut 4,000 jobs, as the regional bank continues to struggle amid the ongoing downturn in the mortgage and credit markets.

The bank expects this initiative to result in annual savings of between $500 million and $600 million by 2011.

National City said it expects to realize $240 million in savings and $80 million to $100 million in associated charges in 2009.

Merrill Lynch, the biggest US brokerage, plans to cut about 500 jobs in its trading division with most of the cuts coming in the information technology, operations and finance.

Merrill has already cut more than 5,000 jobs in the past 18 months, taking its headcount to about 60,000.

Denver-based mutual-fund Janus Capital Group said on Thursday it will cut 9 per cent of its workforce, signaling a major cost-cutting effort was underway in the U.S. money management industry to combat plunging asset levels and fund outflows.

Firing about 110 employees will save $15 million a year, and the company expects to reduce general expenses by as much as $30 million.

ADC Telecommunications Inc. stock fell to a 52-week low Thursday after the telecom equipment company lowered its 2008 guidance and said it was cutting between 300 and 350 jobs, or about 3 per cent of its total work force and exiting unprofitable product lines to cut costs amid the bad economy.

The company forecast sales of $1.47 to $1.5 billion, down from its earlier outlook of $1.5 billion to $1.52 billion.

Wolseley Plc, the world's biggest distributor of plumbing equipment, will fire 3,000 workers as it battles dire trading conditions in the US after cutting 7,000 jobs last year.

Federal-Mogul Corp, the Michigan-based Auto parts supplier is restructuring involving 4,000 job cuts and several plant closings in 2009.

The company said yesterday that its third-quarter earnings plunged 74 per cent from a year ago quarter boosted by a one-time benefit.

Redmond-based manufacturer Genie Industries laid off 375 employees Wednesday, the second round of job cuts in less than four months as the construction industry to which it sells its products continues to weaken.

Genie, which makes lifts, booms, light towers and aerial platforms, said the job cuts represent 18 per cent of its work force in Redmond, which had about 2,400 employees in production and office positions.

Align Technology, which makes Invisalign, a clear device used to align teeth without using braces, said Thursday it will cut 111 full-time positions in Santa Clara and consolidate many functions in Costa Rica.

Align had about 1,400 employees worldwide at the end of September.

That was two months after the company announced it was cutting 67 jobs in California and shifting some work to Mexico.

Circuit City Stores, the consumer electronics retailer, is considering shutting down at least 150 of its 714 stores and cutting thousands of jobs to avoid having to file for bankruptcy protection.

The company with 45,000 strong staff strength had carried out a management change less than a month ago, is racing to work out a reorganization plan before the holiday selling season gets under way.

The Financial Times is cutting 60 non journalists from its 1,600-strong staff, despite rising revenue this year.